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the iPad Wifi Model has GPS

saving107

saving107

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 14, 2007
6,384
33
San Jose, Ca
I was under the impression from browsing the iPad Tech Specs that only the iPad Wifi + 3G model would have GPS, but as soon as my iPad finished syncing I started using Maps, then I hit 'locate me' and it gave me an exact location. thinking that it was because I was on Wifi, I went for a walk a couple of block away from my house, hit Locate Me again in Maps, and again it gave me an exact location again even without Wifi.

Has anyone else tried the 'Locate Me' feature in their Maps, how accurate is it.

I was expecting this,
maps_location20090909.jpg


but got this, and as I walked, it followed my every turn.
 
No, it doesn't have a GPS. It bounces of signals from other Wi-Fi connections, whether your connected or not. This is the case with the iPod touch.
 
Wow, that's weird! Can anyone else confirm this? How did the iPad load the maps as you were moving along?

Really cool, if true.
 
I have found the whole skyhook wifi location thing to be extremely accurate in densely populated areas. Even in my suburban home, it places me very close my actual position. Go out to a field and see if it locates you. ;)
 
Oooh. That's even more reason for me to get WiFi only iPad. I live in the city, never too far from a hotspot.
 
aaquib said:
Wow, that's weird! Can anyone else confirm this? How did the iPad load the maps as you were moving along?

Really cool, if true.
Click to expand...

I can only confirm to the extent that when I used maps it found the almost exact location of my house. I'm guessing it was through some sort of wifi triangulation thing though, not gps. Yet its pretty accurate nonetheless.
 
I have an iPod touch and it doesn't locate me as good as the iPad did (side by side)

I could be wrong about the GPS, but I'm still impressed at the accuracy of Maps.
 
saving107 said:
I have an iPod touch and it doesn't locate me as good as the iPad did (side by side)

I could be wrong about the GPS, but I'm still impressed at the accuracy of Maps.
Click to expand...

Someone could easily test this by trying to use an iphone app that requires gps on their iPad.
 
No GPS!

Location services and the Maps app use wifi triangulation, which works well if you are near 3 or more wifi access points (neighbors, nearby businesses, etc.) that skyhook has logged.

Go somewhere where there is zero wifi signal and you will find out for sure.
 
Seems to work!

I too tried the built-in maps and it located me precisely. So did the apps Around,e and MotionXgps. I think GPS is a go on these wifi models

Cory
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Couldn't you just try it with Wi-Fi switched off??!!??
 
firewood said:
Location services and the Maps app use wifi triangulation, which works well if you are near 3 or more wifi access points (neighbors, nearby businesses, etc.) that skyhook has logged.

Go somewhere where there is zero wifi signal and you will find out for sure.
Click to expand...

You only need to be near 1 wifi access point for it to locate you (within the range that access point). 3 or more just lets in narrow it down to a much more precise point.
 
iParis said:
No, it doesn't have a GPS. It bounces of signals from other Wi-Fi connections, whether your connected or not. This is the case with the iPod touch.
Click to expand...

Whether connected or not? If not, then how would it load the data to display the maps?
 
It's called Assisted GPS and it is not sufficient for navigation programs.

The 3G + WiFi will have a real GPS.
 
vant said:
It's called Assisted GPS and it is not sufficient for navigation programs.

The 3G + WiFi will have a real GPS.
Click to expand...

No, it's not assisted GPS. It's wi-fi triangulation. And assisted GPS is perfectly sufficient for navigation programs and is, in fact, just as accurate as regular GPS and typically able to lock on to a signal faster than regular GPS.
 
So I decided to go for another test. so it may not be GPS, but I think its good enough, at least for my test walk.





 
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