Satnav query,

[NY]

Sadly Apple sell a model of iPad that has no GPS built in. It seems that in order to get GPS you have to buy a deluxe model that also has mobile phone capability built in (ie a SIM socket and associated circuitry). My wife found this out the hard way when we found out that her new iPad (*) didn't give a location in mapping software such as ViewRanger, Outdoor Active etc. She'd bought the version without mobile phone capability because she has an Android phone for mobile phone and internet, and only needs the iPad as a large-screen tablet for connection to the home network or for offline navigation in the car.

Why did Apple decide that to get GPS you needed to pay for mobile phone capability?

(*) Seems to be a new policy, because her older iPad has GPS but no mobile capability.

[Sn!pe]

Jethro_uk <jethro [e-mail] wrote: [...]

Norfolk enchants.

[NY]

In the past, my older phone had tremendous problems getting a GPS fix in an outside cabin of a cruise ship. Not surprising with all that metal around. But my new (as of March) phone has no problem at all. What does affect the signal was the RFID-absorbing phone case that I bought to protect credits cards from being hacked when they were slotted into the case: I found that if I wanted a continuous "where have we been" trace, I needed to leave the case open. With that proviso I was regularly getting about 15 satellites in view, according to the third-party "GPS Status" app.

[Sn!pe]

[...] Sour grapes or simple inverted snobbery?

[Max Demian]

Google Maps Timeline function thought I walked 10 miles in 1h3m. (I still don't know how it can tell whether I walked, took a bus or went by car.)

[Sn!pe]

Apple GPS is on the same chip that provides mobile capability.

[#Paul]

That's more along the lines of fourkingmaps.co.uk, but whatever floats your boat :-)

#Paul

[Rod Speed]

Because one chip does both functions in those ipads.

Nope, just a new chip.

[Brian Gaff]

Well, it can cope with it as long as it has gps, but I think the errors change otherwise. Not sure how it integrates info from the mast data and gps and how it achieves such a good accuracy compared to other methods. A lot of these apps seem to be almost like magic. Its certainly better than google is on its own. Brian

[Dave W]

'Miles from anywhere' wouldn't have a postcode.

[NY]

I presumed it was. It's a strange decision to do it like that, because I would have thought that there were two markets: one who want wifi, bluetooth and GPS, and another who want all that plus mobile. Dividing them instead into wifi/bluetooth and wifi/bluetooth/GPS/mobile is a weird one: why pay extra (and it's a LOT extra, being Apple) for a feature (mobile) that you don't want.

Android tablets (eg Samsung) seem to be marketed as wifi/bluetooth/GPS versus wifi/bluetooth/GPS/mobile, as I would expect.

My wife bought the new iPad partly to use for navigation in the car, as a replacement for her older iPad which has a smaller screen and is starting to suffer various problems. She was not pleased when she found out it doesn't have its own GPS, so we are investigating an add-on GPS receiver which talks to the iPad by bluetooth. Yes, she should have checked, but Apple's sales literature should make it clearer than no mobile also means no GPS.

[Fredxx]

If you use Streetmap.co.uk, it will convert any place in the UK to a 'nearest post code'.

Maiden Hill for example OS X (Eastings) 259035 OS Y (Northings) 78915 Nat Grid SX590789 / SX5903578915 Nearest Post Code PL20 6SW Lat (WGS84) N50:35:34 (50.59289597205834) Long (WGS84) W3:59:35 (-3.992920127753779) Lat,Long (WGS84) 50.59289597205834,-3.992920127753779 Lat (OSGB36) N50:35:32 (50.59233375096204) Long (OSGB36) W3:59:30 (-3.9917851835187825) Lat,Long (OSGB36) 50.59233375096204,-3.9917851835187825 what3words likes.something.rinse Open Loc/Plus code 9C2RH2V4+5R4

If you put PL20 6SW into Google Maps it gives a coverage area which may arguably include the example hill

[Bob Eager]

Duh. That was the point I was making.

[Andrew]

The emergency services have had problems when the words are garbled in transit, like where the phrase "Send three and fourpence we are going to a dance" was received but was sent as "send reinforcements we are going to advance".

[charles]

My father, who was in the TA, told me youn had to say "hedgerow" to make it clear you weren't talking about an 'edge'.

[JoeJoe]

The easiest way to send someone your location:

Open WhatsApp and compose a message to him. Click the attachement icon (paper clip), and select location Send him the current location When he clicks on it he will be given the option with which app to open it: Google Maps, TomTom Go (if he has it installed), etc He can navigate using that

If you insist of finding the coordinats using TomTom (for Android):

Click the search window near the top of the screen Click the "Whole Map" right below it The bottom entry in the new menu that opens is latitude and longitude Click on it and you will be presented with those of your current location