Ok. It’s time to set the record straight. There are two kinds of GPS. One that’s really GPS and one that fakes it, often called “Assisted GPS”. One you want to trust while your out and about and the other, ehhhh, maybe not so much.
This is very important when it comes to Apple’s iPad, slated for an April 3rd release. Here is a cool video of what Penguin UK is building out for the iPad (fast forward to about 2:11 mark to see the bit on travel books). Many many publishers are looking to the iPad to provide the needed hardware to present enhanced books in a preferred way.
I love my iPhone it’s a no-brainer for travel. All that computing power tied to GPS satellites, in my pocket… terrific! But the iPad doesn’t have an active GPS receiver. It’s not there. All it can do is triangulate your position by which cellphone towers it can “see”. Here’s how (not) good that system is:
collects information from the nearest cell-phone tower to estimate a person’s location within a distance of about 1,000 meters.
1,000 meters? Really? That can’t even be used for driving directions much less hiking or biking. Can you imagine trying to follow a twisting trail via an iPad map that may or may not 1,000 meters off at any given time?
Now the iPad will also use the IP address for any WiFi network connection the device is using. This is actually more accurate than the cell tower method, but if you’re always on that WiFi connection… then you’re not traveling.
Please note that you also need the $629 version of the iPad to use these features, not the lower-cost $499 cousin.
I’m not slamming the iPad by any means. In fact, I’ve been saving my pennies for months and I will have one. It’s just too cool of a device not to. I just wish that they would clarify what “GPS enabled”, “assisted GPS”, etc. means for all the would-be buyers. Too much confusion and cloudiness leads to frustrated travel book/app buyers…
and neither Apple nor the publishers win when that happens.