Wi-Fi-only iPads have never featured GPS, but the lack of
satellite-navigation tech in the new Mini fondleslab's non-cellular
version has provoked a mild backlash: and rightly so, though not many
people understand why.
The new gizmos do have a "digital compass", a magnetometer which is
aware of the direction the slab is being pointed but not it's location.
The device guesses where it is by sniffing for nearby WiFi base stations
and checking their position against Apple's database of unique device
IDs. Read more here