iPod touch How can I get GPS working on my Touch?

[MortimerJazz]

After playing around with my Touch for a bit, I've found the 'Directions' part of Maps.

I'd really like to be able to use the functionality that gives me directions based on my current location.

However, I'm continually getting an error message saying that my current location can not be determined, so I was hoping someone on here might be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Do I need to download some additional software or configure the Touch in some kind of way?

Thanks alot,

 

[Chundles]

After playing around with my Touch for a bit, I've found the 'Directions' part of Maps.

I'd really like to be able to use the functionality that gives me directions based on my current location.

However, I'm continually getting an error message saying that my current location can not be determined, so I was hoping someone on here might be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Do I need to download some additional software or configure the Touch in some kind of way?

Thanks alot,

The iPod touch (and the iPhone) require a data connection to provide location data to the device. If you're not connected to a WiFi network then it cannot load the data and tell you where you are.

Now, unlike the iPhone, the iPod touch can only find it's location based on the work of the people at Skyhook wireless. If they have conducted a survey of the area and mapped the WiFi networks in that area then it should work but if they have not then it's not going to be possible to find your current locale.

The iPhone can use WiFi data, mobile phone tower triangulation and GPS to locate you down to within a few metres. The iPod touch cannot be that accurate and relies on third party companies for it's information.

 

[UltimateSyn]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5A347 Safari/525.20)

For confirmation: the iPod touch does not have GPS, only the iPhone 3G has GPS (in Apple's current mobile product line) but Wi-Fi does a pretty damn good job of finding my location.

 

[4DThinker]

It was clear when they first added Google Maps that the Skyhook folks had never been to my town. Fortunately you can submit your own wifi router's mac address to them along with your location and they will add it to their database. I did that a few days ago and my touch now locates me when I'm home. Sadly the rest of my town needs to do the same thing because I've been several places and it can't locate me anywhere else.

Fortunately, I almost always know where I am.

 

[mizelly41]

It was clear when they first added Google Maps that the Skyhook folks had never been to my town. Fortunately you can submit your own wifi router's mac address to them along with your location and they will add it to their database. I did that a few days ago and my touch now locates me when I'm home. Sadly the rest of my town needs to do the same thing because I've been several places and it can't locate me anywhere else.

Fortunately, I almost always know where I am.

Where exactly do you submit this information? I would love for my home connection to be added. When I tell my iPod Touch to locate me now it tells me I somewhere in Florida, but I live in Illinois.