# How does your smartphone know your location?

- Institution: TED
- Department: TED-Ed
- Speaker: Wilton L. Virgo
- Year: 2015
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Engineering, Art, architecture and design
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/wilton_l_virgo_how_does_your_smartphone_know_your_location)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

GPS location apps on a smartphone can be very handy when mapping a travel route or finding nearby events. But how does your smartphone know where you are? Wilton L. Virgo explains how the answer lies 12,000 miles over your head, in an orbiting satellite that keeps time to the beat of an atomic clock powered by quantum mechanics. \[Directed by Nick Hilditch, narrated by Addison Anderson\].

## Lectures

1. [How does your smartphone know your location?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/wilton_l_virgo_how_does_your_smartphone_know_your_location/787e53e7cfed), 5 min (TED's player)