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WiFi only iPad does have GPS...sorta

D

DotCom2

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 22, 2009
6,366
5,711
This from the new iPad page on Apple site:

"...iPad with Wi-Fi finds your location using known Wi-Fi hotspots, and Wi-Fi + 3G models use Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular towers. So you can get routes, get directions, and get there in no time."

That's soooo kewl!
So location aware App's can still be used on the Wifi only version of the iPad!
FABULOUS!:D
 
melman101 said:
We actually knew that since iPhone OG has the same thing :). Problem is, some places on Wifi don't actually know where you are :-(.

I'll be waiting for the 3G one.
Click to expand...

Oh.
Thanks for bursting my bubble! :(
 
DotCom2 said:
This from the new iPad page on Apple site:

"...iPad with Wi-Fi finds your location using known Wi-Fi hotspots, and Wi-Fi + 3G models use Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular towers. So you can get routes, get directions, and get there in no time."

That's soooo kewl!
So location aware App's can still be used on the Wifi only version of the iPad!
FABULOUS!:D
Click to expand...

That's not "sorta" GPS since GPS is satellite based. It's not even "sorta" cell tower triangulation which would be the next best way of locating where you are. That is just approximating where you are if the WiFi you are on is a known location. As soon as you leave the WiFi your iPad no longer has any idea where you are.
 
Julien said:
That is just approximating where you are if the WiFi you are on is a known location.
Click to expand...

And given that 99,99 % (just me guessing) of all WiFi hotspots have no clue about their location, you can imagine how useful that will be...
 
It does work quite well if the hotspot you are connected to has been tracked. It's not just public hotspots that get tagged, either: My WiFi router at home got added to the database at some time as it started locating us at home properly. However, we subsequently moved and the database hasn't been updated. Now, if my daughter goes to maps on her iPod touch in the house and tracks her location, it thinks she's near our old house!
 
zipa said:
Huh? Care to elaborate on this?
Click to expand...

Location services overWiFi use the WiFi positioning service from SkyHook, which uses the Mac address of WiFi routers it's tracked to estimate your location
There's more information on how it all works at Skyhook's site here.
I don't know if my router got added as part of a general sweep of the area or if someone in the house (it could even have been me!) used the Submit an Access point option on that page to get it added to the database
 
Phil A. said:
Location services overWiFi use the WiFi positioning service from SkyHook, which uses the Mac address of WiFi routers it's tracked to estimate your location
There's more information on how it all works at Skyhook's site here.
I don't know if my router got added as part of a general sweep of the area or if someone in the house (it could even have been me!) used the Submit an Access point option on that page to get it added to the database
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'm not sure, but I could imagine that this would in fact be illegal, if they are triangulating private WiFi basestations without consent.

EDIT: Reading further into the privacy statement, it would seem that they are not trying to pinpoint the location of the WiFi basestation, but are rather mapping signal strengths from different stations to a certain location. While this data could be used (if it would fall into the "wrong hands") to locate a certain base station, it is a lot more anonymous than recording that my WiFi router sits on the second floor of <insert address here>.
 
zipa said:
Huh? Care to elaborate on this?
Click to expand...

The service used by the Apple mobile devices is called Skyhook. Once your access point gets logged by Skyhook (there are apps that do the logging) your location will show up on the phone/touch/iPad.

It's certainly not the best system. Go back and look at the complaints from the original iPhone days. There's also a quirk that if someone moves and sets up their access point somewhere else you will be incorrectly identified in the wrong location. I had that happen to me with the original iPhone. Someone apparently moved between states. The phone latched onto a access point and put me more than a thousand miles away from my actual location.
 
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