02
Feb 2006
Celebrity Sat-Nav
Many hundreds of years ago, navigators looked up to the night sky to work out their earthly location, and plot their courses.
Today, stars are still guiding travellers towards their desired destinations, but rather than celestial bodies, it´s the bright lights of celebrity that are showing us the way.
So. Let´s imagine the scene. You´ve done all your research, studied the science parts and read all the reviews. You´ve decided on the Satellite-Navigation system that you want and you´ve parted with your hard-earned cash.
Now for the difficult bit. Do you stick with the generic male/female voice that comes with your chosen Sat-Nav or do you spice it up a bit and have a celebrity like John Cleese, or maybe Mr T join you for the ride?
You may have heard Tom Baker´s authoritative voice being lent to BT for their text to landline service, but it seems that he´s not the only one cashing in on the trend. Stars are flocking to join the burgeoning voice-recording club.
As a result, star struck motorists are shelling out hundreds of pounds on the rising trend of celebrity voices for their satellite navigation systems. There are plenty available and the latest additions to the circuit are Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and A-team Hero Mr T.
Mr T
As you can imagine, these celebrity voices are getting a bit of a cult following. The actors have injected a little of their best characters into the recordings, with Mr T telling the driver ´Pay attention to what I´m saying.
When you ride with Mr T, you gonna get there in one piece.´ I´m holding out the hope that there´s also a soundbite of him saying ´I ain´t getting on no damn motorway´ or ´I pity the fool who turns right here´.
Dennis Hopper
If Mr T doesn´t float your boat, maybe you´d prefer Dennis Hopper, who tells you to relax, as you´re travelling with the easy rider, or perhaps Burt Reynolds telling you to slow down, pointing out that you´re not in Smokey and the Bandit.
The latest celebrity voice come via Navtones sat-nav systems, and are produced by Wanderlust media and digital company Tele-Atlas. Fans can download celebrity voices into cars for around $10, though Navtones say they are working with UK based sat nav companies with an eye to bringing celebs into British cars too.
Of course, with the official products proving popular, it´s no surprise to find that there are plenty of websites with ´actors´ imitating celebrity voices. With some very authentic sounding ´celebrities´, these are proving to be a big hit too.
One of the websites providing this service is Voiceskins.com. On their site they say "How about letting your favourite celebrities give you directions? We´ve got brilliant impersonations of some of the most famous and distinctive male and female voices for you to choose from. Movie stars, TV personalities, pop stars and legendary icons". And right they are - some of them are so convincing you´d think they were the real deal.
There are lots of mp3´s on the site so that you can ´try before you buy´.
Some of the best celebrity satnavs include:
• Clint Eastwood: "I know what you´re thinking. Do I drive five miles or six? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this commotion I´ve lost track myself. So you got to ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky? Well, do you punk?"
• Queen Elizabeth II: "One has reached one´s destination."
• Tony Blair: "I´ve got your future fully mapped out. At the end of the road....Congestion Charge..Bloody Ken Livingstone..."
• Arnie: "You´re going somewhere, but you´ll be back."
• President Bush: "This is George W. Bush and i hope this will accelirificate you to your destination."
• C3PO: "Hello Master. Depart. Oh dear."
• Patrick Stewart: "You have strayed into the Beta Quadrant, turn around when possible. You have reached your destination. Initiate docking procedure."
Other perennial favourites on satnav voice sites include Ozzy Osbourne, Joanna Lumley, Michael Caine and Sharon Osbourne.