Does Microsoft Surface have GPS?

Wow,

I have always been a proponent of Microsoft and their products, and when I heard about the Surface I was PUMPED..  I have used Android devices for the past few years and I do love them, but I had a soft spot of Microsoft stuff and still do..

I purchased a Transformer TF101 Tablet that is dual core that I overclock to 1.5 with a keyboard that gives me 16 or so hours of usage and I love it.

I use it EXCLUSIVELY in my car to replace my GPS in my 2011 Hyundai Sonata.. The only downside is that I find myself looking at a very stylish Hybrid Display of google maps far too often.  ;-)

The transformer is Wifi only.. I use it for GPS every day.. Yeah.. I can use my phone but that would have killed me a long time ago looking at that thing and how can I hear it tell me when I’m listening to Rush at the threshold of pain? 

The fact of the matter is this..  Android has been putting GPS into their Wifi only and 3G/4G tablets.. Anyone who has a tablet and a phone and buys a WIFI only tablet is going to Tether their tablet to the phone so that they have connectivity in the car and when they are just out and about without Wifi Access.  For Microsoft to basically say.. “Why would you need GPS in a tablet that just has Wifi?” is really them making a very shortsighted view on the whole tablet industry and how this technology is actually being used.  A GPS unit is super small in any device as it is, it would have been so simple to just include it.

My tablet is also connected to the Bluetooth on my phone and I use my tablet to send and receive text messages with a handy program called Talbet Talk. (TF has the keyboard)

The long and short of this is that I have been using my Wifi only tablet for almost 2 years now… I get in the car.. and the following happens..

I Velcro the Tablet right over the console in the car.

I flip open the keyboard for easy access.

My Phone (Samsung Galaxy SIII) connects to my car for Handsfree.

I plug in the Aux Jack into my Transformer and the console see’s it’s there and flips to Aux.

I now have a fully functional entertainment device in my car that would cost me thousands if I had someone put it in.

I start up my music on the tablet.

I start up Google maps on my tablet.  (using that pesky apparently non functional Wifi connection from my phone which apparently some people feel I’m not going to do)

And then I’m off down the road..

GPS works phenomenally well..

When it gives me voice instruction it turns down the music.

When I get a phone call Tablet talk notifies me and so does the car ring.. When I pick up the aux drops and I take my hands free call.

When I hang up the music and navigation is back..

I can fire up Pandora if I want or anything else for that matter.  When I stop I watch Netflix through the car..

The point is this.. How is it that Microsoft comes out with a product late in the game and NOT come out with something that allows a power user to do anything that they have been able to do with tablets for years now?  With a price that frankly won’t be compelling for a user that has an irrational love for Apple.. and features that are less than the current level of MOST Android devices which are hundreds less.. I’m wondering who is going to recommend these to their family and friends. If you have a family that has a tech guy you ask the tech guy… Why would a Vendor come out with something that doesn’t cater to that tech guy?

Yeah that was more long than short, but I had such high hopes for this Surface and it LOOKS cool, but If I drop 600 bucks on one (after keyboard) than I have a device that does me no real good in my car.. I can’t navigate.. I can’t use a TON of location based applications and services.  If I lose my tablet, I won't be able to track it. A huge step backwards for me and DAMN  Now I have to buy my Fiancée a FRIGGIN IPAD!!! It’s going to kill me.. And with the prices this close she will be disappointed if I don’t get her one.  (sigh)  And you guys know that this sort of thing can’t happen. ;-)