while i was bored in the car, i pressed location (while not connected to wifi) and, unexpectedly, not only did it find my location, it was TRACKING me as i moved along! did anyone else notice this? why didn't apple advertise this in the 2.0 software?
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iPod touch ipod touch tracks location!
- Thread starter macfanboy
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Wait are you serious? It tracks you on a map? I thought it can only do that on WiFi, and even with that it won't even be accurate.
If this is true I'll have no doubt about buying it...can any one confirm? Or did they make a mistake and you actually have iphone hardware lol
Can we get some screen? I'm pretty sure this is impossible because the ipod touch doesnt have a way of communicating to a gps or even cell tower?
Beric
macrumors 68020
Beric
macrumors 68020
Most members who've been here as long as he aren't trolls.
It's probably an honest mistake.
Even if it had some concealed GPS, it wouldn't be able to download maps without some sort of internet connection.
Didn't apple say they can do that by triangulating Wifi signals? Or is that only with cell towers? lol feels like something straight out of 24. We should at least hear him out before starting to flame him
Chundles
macrumors G5
Guys it is possible - the iPod touch can track your location but not to the same accuracy as the iPhone.
The circle moves along showing your rough location according to local WiFi networks in range. It doesn't go to a point because there's no GPS in the touch but it can do tracking.
The circle moves along showing your rough location according to local WiFi networks in range. It doesn't go to a point because there's no GPS in the touch but it can do tracking.
It is possible. We use the same system in the navy to estimate our position underwater in submarines without getting GPS fixes.
The accelerometer in the Ipod senses speed and accelerations. Basically, it gets your starting position through wifi. Then it just uses basic math from the outputs of the accelerometers. If you are moving direction x, and accelerated at Y, your speed is Z in X direction. It can use this for very rough estimates of where you are.
Is it possible, yes. Does it actually do this, have no idea. It would take some pretty hefty software, and accelerometers for at least 2 axis's to perform this feature.
The accelerometer in the Ipod senses speed and accelerations. Basically, it gets your starting position through wifi. Then it just uses basic math from the outputs of the accelerometers. If you are moving direction x, and accelerated at Y, your speed is Z in X direction. It can use this for very rough estimates of where you are.
Is it possible, yes. Does it actually do this, have no idea. It would take some pretty hefty software, and accelerometers for at least 2 axis's to perform this feature.
Its not a hoax, again, this is how the navy submarines navigate underwater. I know this because I spent 10 years on one as a Navigation Electronics tech.
If you know where you start, and know which direction you were heading in, at a rate of speed, its fairly simple to estimate your position.
The accelerometers can provide the speed and direction if it had acceleromters to cover 2 axis's. Considering the have the ball game where you tilt the Ipod in any of the 4 directions to control the ball, then yes, it would have what is needed to accomplish this.
Whether or not its programed to do so is another story. Dont dismiss things as not possible simply because you dont understand the technology or principles behind it.
.Andy
macrumors 68030
techage14
macrumors regular
this is a hoax because he said himself
that he wasn't connected to Wi-Fi!
come on now. i know that when your in a hotspot that the ipod can
track you. I know, i've done it first hand. but, if his connection was off, then doesnt that raise a red flag?
if only I had pictures....
that he wasn't connected to Wi-Fi!
come on now. i know that when your in a hotspot that the ipod can
track you. I know, i've done it first hand. but, if his connection was off, then doesnt that raise a red flag?
if only I had pictures....
Jaykay
macrumors 6502a
It was a feature added to the ipod touch in the same update that added it to to the iPhone. It only uses Wi-Fi hotspots instead of both hotspots and cell towers like the iPhone. And also it does not have to be connected. Wi-fi has to be turned on but you dont have to be connected to a network. It works by searching out all wi-fi hotspots in the area and giving you a rough triangulation using both signal strength and some sort of hotspot location code (can't remember directly). But it does not have to be connected to a specific network. Though as was mentioned, downloading new maps might be difficult.
That's not what he said. If you can find out your starting position (via GPS etc..) then you you can disconnect and use ship based instruments to give you speed, distance, altitude and latitude (which will give you your rough position) without re-connecting to the GPS system therefore concealing your location.
I would say yes and no. Yes it is possible to judge distance traveled by acceleration and thus "speed". But no, because speed is not velocity (ie vector based); there is no compass inside the Ipod Touch...I think? And in any case to calculate that in real time is gonna need something alot more powerful.
Also, ever heard of the story about a person throwing a ball inside a constantly moving train from basic physics? Or throwing a ball inside a cruising airplane? If the positioning system is based off what you say, a person just so much as to grab the ipod to look at the playlist will throw it off course. In order for it to work you need external sources, ie GPS, Wifi, cell signals...
The submarine's avionics are built into the machine, this doesn't apply...
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)
this is what I mean!
PS I was in the city. And also, sorry if I didn't make it clear, but It wasn't as 'realtime' as gps in iPhone. It would update every 50 to 100 feet
Chundles said:
this is what I mean!
PS I was in the city. And also, sorry if I didn't make it clear, but It wasn't as 'realtime' as gps in iPhone. It would update every 50 to 100 feet
brian9271
macrumors 6502
no, because it would give away my location. why don't you try it for yourself? wouldn't this be why the 'find location' button stays lit up when you press it?