Kim Catrall - the New Voice on TomTom GPS

GPS devices have grown into a full-featured technological aid in our everyday life; not only when going abroad, but used for a fairly easy way to escape in crowded cities. Of course, bike or motorbike rides to the countryside are no strange places for our GPS buddies; and with the constant development of all the tech involved, the next story was more like a “when” and not an “if”.

Shortly, the next big thing in the GPS field is a custom voice for your comfort: from the first utterly robotic voices which accompanied you during your trips, a big step has been made.

It's with a rather amused facial expression that I can now introduce to you the newest voices, or even characters if you like, for those of you who decided to go on with the TomTom GPS units. You can now upgrade your driving assistant and grant him (or her) a true identity: I even find myself yelling at the poor impersonal voice inside my GPS when what's in the field has nothing to do with what's on the map. Well, from now on, I guess I could address myself to a very specific person.

One of the most interesting additions in the libraries of TomTom is by far Kim Catrall. For those of you a tad younger, I must add that Kim played the role of Samantha in the long and successful SATC series. Now, things are really interesting to watch as they evolve... and of course see the reactions of those who installed the Kim-voiced upgrade for their GPS devices. Personally, I believe I'd get incredibly mad after the first less-than-perfect situations on the road.

Yet TomTom has prepared a wider assortment of other voices for the willing upgrade-lovers and they include John Cleese (in meters and yards versions), Burt Reynolds, Curt Schilling, Dennis Hopper and the commanding voice of Mr. T as well.

The upgrade will set you back with only $13 and hopefully you'll end up with a co-pilot you can really get along with. You can check the available options here. I'm still waiting for the Vader and Yoda versions (for going backwards).

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