The Free Skobbler Google Android and iPhone Sat Nav App E-mail
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Tuesday, 06 July 2010 15:25

Skobbler Launches Free Sat Nav For Google Android Phones

Berlin, Germany, 16th July 2010 - skobbler, creator of the first free turn by turn sat nav app for the iPhone, has today announced the launch of skobbler for the Google Android platform.

Featuring a new user interface and enhanced visual appearance, skobbler sat nav for Google Android is available for download immediately, is compatible with most Google Android mobile phones and above all is FREE.

Since the UK launch of skobbler for iPhone just 4 weeks ago, skobbler has been downloaded more than 82,000 times by iPhone users in the UK. It has sat comfortably at the top of the UK free navigation app chart for four weeks and reached No. 10 of the most popular free apps in the UK app store overall, demonstrating just how popular mobile phone navigation is becoming.  “Developing skobbler for the Android platform was the next logical step for the company,” says Marcus Thielking, co-founder of skobbler. “Our goal is to show that the revolutionary OpenStreetMap (OSM) concept can already support great location-based services, even in the most complex category which is definitely car navigation. Developing our unique OSM-based apps for the most popular mobile platforms has always been part of our ongoing strategy. We are looking forward to the feedback of our Android customers and hope that they will embrace the idea of a nationwide (if not worldwide) collaborative mapping project just as much as iPhone users have done already. We look forward to seeing what we call, ‘the future of sat nav’ become a reality, making expensive GPS hardware and slow, costly map updates a thing of the past.”

skobbler is a sat nav solution that empowers consumers to take matters into their own hands and make outdated and poorly detailed maps a thing of the past. It uses community maps from OpenStreetMap (OSM), the Wikipedia of maps that already has over 250,000 users worldwide dedicated to updating and creating the most detailed free map of the world. As a result, all users benefit from consistently updated maps without paying for expensive and already out-of-date updates.

Did You Know That:
skobbler is free, is compatible with most Google Android mobile phones and can be downloaded from the Android Market.

You can find further information on recent developments at http://blog.skobbler.com.

skobbler sat nav app key features:

• Turn-by-turn GPS navigation

• Visual and voice-guided navigation

• 2.5D bird’s eye view graphics

• Day and night display modes

• Automatic continuation of navigation after incoming calls

• Pedestrian mode

• Take me home function

• Dynamic map updates at no extra cost

• User-editable maps of UK and Ireland (OpenStreetMap data)

• Bookmarks for favourite destinations

Skobbler iPhone Navigation Exceeds 72,000 Downloads In Just Three Weeks - Berlin, Germany, 5th July 2010 - skobbler, creator of the free sat nav app for the iPhone, has announced today that since its UK launch just three weeks ago, the skobbler navigation app has been downloaded more than 72,000 times, surpassing the launch success achieved in the company's native country, Germany, a few months ago. To put this figure into perspective, a total of 266,000 PNDs were shipped into the UK market in Q1 2010, according to industry analysts Canalys.

With the similarity in service offered, it's fair to put these figures into context, which leads to the astonishing fact that skobbler's 3-week-volume equals 27.1% of all UK PND shipments in the first quarter of 2010. A fact that may well serve as an example for both the increasing popularity of mobile phone apps for in-car navigation as well as the revolutionary navigation concept of skobbler in particular.

skobbler has sat comfortably at the top of the UK free navigation app chart for three weeks, and reached No. 10 of the most popular free apps in the UK app store overall, only being beaten by a few top-notch games and World Cup related apps such as the Vuvuzela.

"We are only just getting started in the UK," says Marcus Thielking, co-founder of skobbler. "It's early days and to have experienced such success in such a short amount of time is quite overwhelming and encouraging. It demonstrates again just how popular mobile phone navigation is becoming." In several ways, the skobbler concept is a no-brainer for end-users: there's no initial outlay for expensive GPS hardware, map updates are more frequent and free for life, and there's no need to carry around additional devices. "We are over the moon that so many users have already embraced the community-driven collaborative OpenStreetMap project that our app is based on, and are very encouraged that the concept will continue to evolve into the future of sat nav", adds Thielking.

Since its launch, skobbler has been busy working closely with its customers through lively exchange with its forum members on the skobbler website, listening to customer feedback in order to constantly develop skobbler according to its customers' needs. In fact, users can already expect a major update in the coming days in which several enhancements to the system have been made as a result of customer feedback. Among other aspects, the update will dramatically enhance the visual appearance and stability of the app as well as offer full compatibility with Apple's new iOS4 firmware.

The new user interface will also be part of a brand new Google Android version of skobbler which will be launched in the UK over the coming days. "We're pushing with full force to continue delivering lightning-fast cycles of free updates with significant improvements. Only a brilliant framework like the app store makes such a high frequency of updates possible, which is just another major asset of smartphones versus other device categories" explains Thielking.

skobbler is a community-driven sat nav solution that empowers consumers to take matters into their own hands and make outdated and poorly detailed maps a thing of the past. It uses community maps from OpenStreetMap (OSM), the Wikipedia of maps that already has over 250,000 users worldwide dedicated to updating and creating the most detailed free map of the world. As a result, all users benefit from consistently updated maps without paying for expensive and already out-of-date updates. skobbler is available to download for FREE at the UK App Store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skobbler-uk-ireland-lite-truly/id374083118?mt=8.

You can find further information on recent developments at http://blog.skobbler.com and http://forum.skobbler.com.
Last Updated on Monday, 19 July 2010 07:33