A
Antonio M Salazar
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)]I’m trying to better understand how my Windows laptop knows my precise location.
I learnt that if, for example, I open the Microsoft Maps app in my Windows laptop, it can pinpoint my exact location by checking online on a database Microsoft has, that tracks nearby WIFI Access Points MAC addresses to the GPS location that had been previously reported by GPS able devices such as smartphones nearby.
This is really contrived and smart way to help non-GPS able computers know their location.
My doubt is: Do Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc, share this database?, or do they keep their databases independently, which would seem like a wasted effort.
I say this because, the way I understand this works (please correct me if I’m wrong), is that most Android phones report this WAP-to-GPS location to Google (I can’t see any Microsoft service or app reporting this in my Android phone settings), while Apple phones I guess report this to Apple.
So, how may a Windows 10 laptop pinpoint the location of nearby WAPs if there’re aren’t any phones updating their database? Aren’t these vendors just sharing these databases?
Any clarification much appreciated. [/COLOR]
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I learnt that if, for example, I open the Microsoft Maps app in my Windows laptop, it can pinpoint my exact location by checking online on a database Microsoft has, that tracks nearby WIFI Access Points MAC addresses to the GPS location that had been previously reported by GPS able devices such as smartphones nearby.
This is really contrived and smart way to help non-GPS able computers know their location.
My doubt is: Do Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc, share this database?, or do they keep their databases independently, which would seem like a wasted effort.
I say this because, the way I understand this works (please correct me if I’m wrong), is that most Android phones report this WAP-to-GPS location to Google (I can’t see any Microsoft service or app reporting this in my Android phone settings), while Apple phones I guess report this to Apple.
So, how may a Windows 10 laptop pinpoint the location of nearby WAPs if there’re aren’t any phones updating their database? Aren’t these vendors just sharing these databases?
Any clarification much appreciated. [/COLOR]
Continue reading...