Some really cool innovating is going on in the GPS world. I love the debut of speech recognition (say “123 East 43rd Street” instead of typing a tiny on-screen keyboard). And Garmin’s recently announced 7X5 series offers free traffic reporting (most GPS units require you to pay a monthly fee forever to see this data on your screen), lane assistance (suggests which lane to get into, so you’ll be ready for the next turn or exit), and semi-transparent, photorealistic 3-D buildings in major cities, which make it easier to get your bearings.
I’ll have a review as soon as I can get my hands on one.
You gotta love, though, the latest from Tom Tom: you can buy, for $13, any of 25 replacement voices. So instead of hearing the usual monotone GPS Lady telling you to turn right in 500 feet, you hear John Cleese, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper, Mr. T, Curt Shilling, Gary Busey, or, now, Kim Cattrall.
The press release makes it sound as though they also make off-the-cuff remarks in their own characters: “On the road, Cattrall throws some candid, sassy and sexy advice to help drivers find their way. For example, in addition to saying, ‘At the end of the road turn left’ or ‘Take the second right,’ Cattrall also lets drivers know what she is really thinking, saying ‘This is the city, darling. Anything goes’ or ‘Don’t touch my Manolos.’”
I haven’t tried these voices, so I don’t know exactly how annoying those comments might get. I hope current Tom Tom customers will let us know, in the Comments.
In the meantime, you can hear samples of the voices here. And get psyched for GPS getting better all the time.
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