If you’ve refrained from buying a GPS application for your iPhone because you just wouldn’t use it enough to justify the cost, well now there’s skobbler.

skobbler is a free application that uses opensource maps to navigate you to your destination. The application definitely isn’t as refined and polished as other GPS offerings such as Navigon but it has plenty of promise.

From the website:

skobbler is a unique service, which combines an Internet community with a free mobile phone navigation system. Use skobbler to find the right location – in the Internet and when on the move. These features make skobbler a search engine for special places and locations, which in conjunction with your mobile phone will guide you to wherever you are going free of charge.

The users can search the database for entries, create new entries or furnish them with photos, rate entries or have them shown on a map. The local entries in skobbler are both commercial as well as user-based. The emphasis lies in entries with a high user value, e. g. places to go out chemists, ATMs etc. skobbler thrives on the activity and enthusiasm of its members, which is why we have integrated a unique concept into our platform. The “Local Heroes” feature measures the activity of skobbler members. We have subdivided the map of Germany into squares measuring 4 square kilometres and any user can “conquer” squares by collecting more points than others for activities within the given square. skobbler was created and is maintained by a young team dedicated to combining the Internet with mobile telephony to create a companion for our everyday lives.

Very cool, definitely worth the download.