Thursday, March 17, 2011

iPhone Personal Hotspot transmitting GPS information to tethered iPads?


You may not have known this, but besides missing a 3G radio, the WiFi-only iPad also lacks the A-GPS chip that enables exact GPS positioning versus less-accurate WiFi triangulation. Well, according toTablet Monsters, if you've got an iPhone with iOS 4.3 and are subscribed to Personal Hotspot, your shiny slate should be able to tap into the GPS chip of it's smaller-screened family member. Reports in theMacRumors forums confirm that people are indeed seeing this added functionality on both iPad 2 and the original. Though the native Maps app is reportedly working perfectly there's talk of unfriendliness in turn-by-turn GPS apps -- though this could have to do with the refresh rate of the transmission. If you're already shelling out for the Personal Hotspot plan this is a nice added bonus, and makes the choice between the 3G iPad and the WiFi one just a little bit easier -- assuming you've got an iPhone of course. Still skeptical? Check out a video of it in action after the break. 

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