GPS on the iPad 2 (Part 1 of 3)
Like everyone else we followed Apple's iPad 2 announcement in real-time yesterday morning via the Ars Technica and Engadget live blogs. How do we know we weren't the only ones? Check out this graph of our orders by hour:
(we've removed the exact numbers, but the counts before 10am PST represent our typical average hourly sales rate - it was a good day for Bad Elf!)
So the great news is that the Bad Elf GPS should be fully compatible with all versions of the iPad 2 - Wi-Fi only, 3G/GSM, and Verizon. Like the current model, the GSM and Verizon versions have internal Assisted GPS receivers, and Wi-Fi version does not. So Aviation Consumer's comment still stands: "After flying with iPads and iPhones ourselves and talking to many pilots who also do, we’ve concluded there are those who’ve had the internal GPS lose its location—and those who will."
The Bad Elf GPS is the only "Made for iPod" certified external GPS receiver powered by the 30-pin dock connector with WAAS support and true plug and play operation. Thousands of pilots, boaters, hikers, runners, and drivers are using it today with their iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone devices.
For people looking to save some cash, the first generation iPad devices are $100 off in the Apple Store - quite a deal!
We'll get the iPad 2 on March 11 and post an update with the results of our testing.
Exactly right. We have a list of apps with good offline/cached mapping support listed here. We’ve used CoPilot on a few of our recent trips and it works great. For generic GPS datalogging/sharing you might take a look at the suite of MotionX apps.
Yes, the GPS will work with Google maps, but the GPS is only the device that enables your iOS device to talk to the satellites to obtain position information. It is up to the app you are using to present that to you in a usable way. The Google Maps App expects to be able to pull map tiles over a network connection, whether WiFi or 3G. If you have a mobile hotspot or hotspot capable cell phone, you could use that as your bridge to the Google Map servers. I have also been able to plot a set of directions on Google Maps on my iPod touch while connected to WiFi and then follow the route after disconnecting and getting in the car. However, if you drive off the map or try to zoom in beyond the detail provided by the cached tiles, you will just see your position as a blue dot against a gray background until you are back on the grid or at the proper zoom level.
That said, there are several apps that do cache map data locally on your iOS device. For example, the TomTom app stores large quantities of map data on your device and provided turn by turn directions. We have a list of apps that support offline scenarios on our Apps Page.
Just buy a gps map. It goes from a few dollars to about 50 dollars on the app store.
Hello
Will the Elf GPS work with Google maps? In the wifi only version of ipad will this device work without the need of a 3g network or wifi connection? I would like to be able to use as
stand alone gps device when traveling in car on the wifi only ipad.