Ben the Antipodean Navigator

The Mazda6 I'm driving this week has a SatNav system based on the TomTom architecture, a brand better known (at least to me) for its aftermarket units.

The Mazda comes with a variety of computer voices you can choose from, in a variety of languages. Want to get your directions in German or Portuguese? You're in luck.

Apparently, you can also download other voices from the Internet, including Darth Vader or Bart Simpson.

Not sure I want to get driving directions from either of those guys.

But the voice that's in there now is apparently 'Ben from New Zealand', although he sounded more Australian to me. Click on the link below to hear how 'Ben' tells you that you have reached your destination:

Download TomTom_message_2013-02-17-151139

In case you're unfamiliar with Aussie (or, presumably, Kiwi) slang, 'sunnies 'are sunglasses...

I'm too cheap to go near a toll road, but I've been told that if you approach a toll booth, Ben will helpfully suggest, "Hope you've got some coinage!"

I find this all terribly funny.

But I can also see that you might get tired of it eventually.

In which case, you could always go with Darth or Bart.

 

Comments

[Lars2885]

Ben seems a big improvement over Ms Garmin's synthesized speech, which frequently offers unintelligible pronunciation of place and street names. American Jill in Spain, for example, can be unintentionally hilarious.