Tomtom Chinese Voice Downloads
Navtones.com, which offers a range of voices, lists its top five downloads in Britain as Mr T, Miss Cattrall, and the American actors Dennis Hopper, Gary Busey and Burt Reynolds. TomTom, the leading satnav manufacturer, said its most popular voices were John Cleese, Mr T, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds.
It is designed, no doubt, to strike a steady, reassuring tone, but for growing numbers of motorists the voice of the satnav is simply too boring.
Thousands are turning instead to the stars of television programmes, such as Mr T of The A Team, the Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall and to comedians such as John Cleese, to brighten up their journeys.
They head lists of the most popular voices downloaded to provide directions for the satellite-guided devices.
Eme program downstate medical center. Catchphrases and distinctive mannerisms pepper their instructions to drivers. Mr Tuses the same angry threats as his character BA Baracus in the Eighties television series; Cattrall deploys the sexual innuendos of her screen character Samantha; while Cleese speaks in the same fussy style as his character Basil Fawlty, in the television series Fawlty Towers.
Thousands of Britain's 14 million satellite navigation users are downloading the celebrity voices from websites every month.
- 22 Oct 2010
- 17 Aug 2008
Navtones.com, which offers a range of voices, lists its top five downloads in Britain as Mr T, Miss Cattrall, and the American actors Dennis Hopper, Gary Busey and Burt Reynolds.
TomTom, the leading satnav manufacturer, said its most popular voices were John Cleese, Mr T, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds and a Victor Meldrew impersonation.
Halfords' most popular downloaded voices – which are all done by impersonators – are Matt Lucas, Victor Meldrew, Julian Clary, Ozzy Osbourne and Sean Connery.
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Impersonations of the Queen, the comedian Peter Kay and the American actor David Hasselhoff are all to be made available soon.
Impersonated voices cost less than £5 and those with real celebrities slightly more. The celebrities, or impersonators, pre-record a range of commands to cover all the directions given by satnavs. Their voices can then be selected from websites and downloaded by plugging the satnav into the computer.
Tomtom Chinese Voice Downloads Download
Eddie Izzard, the comedian, offers his own set of directions for £4.99, which includes phrases such as 'For God's sake turn left', 'Bear left, monkey right' and 'You turn ahead, I'll stay here'.
Andrew Howard, the head of road safety at the AA, said: 'I find the main satnav woman incredibly annoying and I can see why John Cleese is so popular.
'My only concern is that whichever voice you choose has to be intelligible to everyone who uses the car. What I understand and find amusing may not be the same for my wife.'
A spokesman for TomTom said: 'As well as famous people and impersonations, there are lots of customers who have recorded their own voices – or their children's – and are able to use them.'
Whether alternative voices cut down on the other difficulties of satnav has yet to be investigated. A recent survey by the insurance company Direct Line showed that satnavs have caused up to 300,000 accidents in Britain, while 1.5 million people admitted performing sudden manoeuvres when following the device's directions.