350,000 existing skobbler Lite customers and new customers can download the current premium app for free, enabling a free upgrade to Navigation 2 in October

Berlin, Germany, 22nd September 2011 - skobbler, specialist developer of map-based apps, will soon announce Navigation 2, a new generation sat nav app for the iPhone. Navigation 2 will replace the existing £1.49 premium suite, skobbler Navigation, and existing users will be provided with a free automatic upgrade upon release.

In addition, skobbler has extended this offer to users of skobbler Lite and all new customers. So for a limited time, those running the free version of the software or who are new to the software can download the premium suite for free and still benefit from the upgrade to Navigation 2 in October. Navigation 2 will then be sold at its regular price in the Apple App Store thereafter.

- skobbler Lite customers should download the premium suite of skobbler Navigation for free before the launch of its successor Navigation 2, upon which skobbler Lite will be discontinued with immediate effect. Having switched to the premium suite, their app will be automatically upgraded to Navigation 2 following its release.

- Existing skobbler Navigation premium suite customers are not affected and will be automatically upgraded to Navigation 2 in October.

- New users can also benefit by downloading the premium suite of skobbler Navigation for free until the launch of Navigation 2, which they will then receive as a complimentary upgrade.

Navigation 2 offers considerable improvements over the current premium suite, with its creation the result of collected customer and industry feedback. It addresses the top update suggestions made by customers and is set to revolutionise approaches to several key aspects of smartphone navigation. Customer feedback and results from a recent study of motorists clearly identified data connection loss as one of the biggest headaches associated with smartphone sat navs. Navigation 2 is a hybrid solution that addresses this issue by allowing users to choose which maps should be stored on a smartphone, enabling navigation offline as well as online. Thus users benefit from a perfect balance between service reliability and economic usage of limited storage capacity on mobile devices.

“We would like to thank all of our customers for their valued support to our constantly evolving app and to the brilliant OpenStreetMap project – together they are helping us to create the future of sat nav,” says Marcus Thielking, co-founder of skobbler. “We hope our invitation to upgrade to skobbler premium navigation for free in preparation for our Navigation 2 app launch will be warmly received. The new app will provide our customers with a radically improved experience in almost every way, from exciting visuals to a series of sought-after features – including the choice between online and offline navigation, which has been our customers’ top requirement.”

“Our on-going strategy is to be the leader in map-based app development and to provide the crème de la crème of OpenStreetMap-based mobile navigation,” continued Thielking. “With Navigation 2, we are really making our mission statement loud and clear. Our free app has been a phenomenal success, not only for introducing skobbler to the market but also in generating essential feedback which has been instrumental in the development of our new navigation solution. However, free apps are currently not commercially viable, if we are to reach our ultimate goal and sustain good service for our customers. So to move forward, we need to charge a small fee. But in return, we promise to deliver the very best in mobile navigation based on OpenStreetMap with free map updates for life,” concluded Thielking.

skobbler sent shockwaves throughout the navigation industry in June last year with the launch of skobbler navigation and remains a leading provider and innovator in the field of navigation and map-based app development. skobbler is committed to developing navigation applications to be used with everyday mobile hardware, which it believes is the future of sat nav – a genuine alternative to costly and slow updating devices.  Navigation 2 by skobbler intends to build on that reputation and skobbler will continue to deliver on its promise of listening to customer feedback and to providing fast updates based on those requests.