skobbler, innovators in mobile location-aware services, has announced a major update to its enormously successful GPS Navigation – the most popular navigation solution for iOS. With a range of powerful new features and functionality designed to turn an iPhone or iPad into a top-end satnav, it offers premium performance without the price tag. Whether at home or abroad, GPS Navigation is the ultimate in flexibility, allowing consumers to utilise an internet connection for online use when available, or download maps (via in-app purchases) to store on a device – from individual cities to the world – for use in poor connection or data roaming areas.
GPS Navigation features a complete redesign to include the recent iOS7 adaptations, and incorporates features that take it far beyond a typical GPS navigation solution. Utilising OpenStreetMap, the wildly popular open-source map that now boasts over 1.4m registered users and nearly 1.8m contributing members, GPS Navigation is the most flexible and reliable satnav in the world, catering to all the needs of the modern user. OpenStreetMap is the future of digital mapping, offering a level of detail and accuracy that has never been seen before. Core navigational features such as turn-by-turn navigation, directions for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as cars and alternative routing, are complemented by aesthetic improvements that include street names as pop-ups in navigation mode for a cleaner look and feel. Users will also find significantly more map detail for elements such as POIs and a range of different maps styles for different use cases (outdoor, night, etc.)
Best of all, all of the features of the software are available for use both online and offline (via in-app purchase), which means users can avoid hefty roaming charges and connection issues in low-coverage areas. In addition to downloading maps for cities or states, users can also opt for entire countries, continents or even the world, ensuring GPS Navigation is at hand whenever it is needed. Maps are fast to download and have a small footprint, making it easy to effectively manage content on a device with minimal impact on storage space. Compared to rivals such as Google Maps, which has very restricted offline capabilities for mapping, searching and routing, and premium-cost alternatives such as Co-Pilot Live and TomTom UK, which restrict the areas users can choose to download to a device, GPS Navigation offers a degree of flexibility, performance and customisation that trumps them all.
This is largely down to skobbler’s NGx engine, the most powerful and versatile map engine in the world, which for the first time on iOS is used as the platform on which to build the GPS Navigation software. NGx delivers fluid, high-performance mapping to offer a genuinely seamless browsing experience with ultra-fast rendering, fast zooming and superb map visuals.
GPS Navigation is more than a cutting-edge navigational aide, however, and now incorporates a range of travel information courtesy of Wikitravel and TripAdvisor, effectively combining multiple apps into one seamless solution. Perfectly complementing GPS Navigation’s open-source roots, the Wikitravel guide features around 90,000 English language pages written by registered travellers from around the world, making it the ultimate travel companion. Users will also find integrated TripAdvisor local searches to provide them with consumer-driven information and advice on things to see and do. Combining this key functionality into one package means that GPS Navigation represents not only an all-in-one solution for travellers, but represents excellent cost-to-benefit ratio and unbeatable flexibility for consumers.
"We’re delighted to be able to bring NGx to GPS Navigation on the iOS platform for the first time, and believe it will facilitate an even greater appreciation of the flexibility and performance on offer from our software," says skobbler CTO Philipp Kandal. "With the improvements we’ve made in this new release and the introduction of travel aides such as Wikitravel and TripAdvisor, we’re aiming to provide a one-stop solution to everybody’s travel needs, whether searching for directions, things to see and do or a good place to eat out. Best of all, you can get all of these features offline, so you’ll never be reliant on an internet connection! We truly believe this to be the ultimate travel accessory for Apple users."
The new version of GPS Navigation is now available from the Apple app store priced at just £1.49: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gps-navigation-2-satnav-by/id329340711. Maps can be downloaded for offline use via in-app purchases, and are competitively priced at £0.99 for cities, £1.99 for a whole country, £3.99 for a continent and just £7.99 for a map of the world.
For more information on GPS Navigation or NGx visit http://www.skobbler.co.uk
About skobbler
Founded in 2008, Berlin-based skobbler (http://www.skobbler.com) is one of the premier players in mobile location-aware services. With over 3.5 million apps sold on iOS alone, skobbler has regularly topped overall and category app charts in numerous countries, leading the way in the development of location technology and end consumer products based on the OpenStreetMap. This experience also facilitates skobbler’s development projects for third parties. Based on the skobbler GeOS map access technology, which features the market-leading map engine skobbler NGx, companies can base their location-aware web or mobile services on the OpenStreetMap.