I find it funny how Snoop Dogg isnt allowed in the UK or Australia, but he could potentially be in your car. The world famous rapper Snoop Dogg has brought his hilarious “-izzle” speak to TomTom.
The firm behind this is Locutio Voice Technologies which offers novelty sat nav voices, and Snoop Dogg will fit in their stable very well.
According to the firm, Snoop’s navigational wisdom includes:
Take tha third left, and while you’re at it, put in some of that Snoop Dogg!Turn around when possible and keep it ‘G’, ya d-i-g?
Keep left ahead, and you’ll be bonafide.
Snoop’s own brand manager, Nick Adler, assures us that “celebrity voices for GPS are a hot new content category”.
“Snoop is the first real megastar to lend his voice to GPS navigation. As Snoop is a trendsetter, he just had to have his voice tell us all where to go!” he added.
There is a very big novelty factor here, but im not too sure if someone would actually purchase this item more than once! Im curious to see who they can bring on next to top Snoop Dogg, I really would love to hear Yoda or the Cookie Monster direct me through London traffic.
Maps for the U.S. and Canada ($99.99), Western Europe ($139.99), Australia ($79.99), and New Zealand ($94.99) are available in the U.S. In Europe, maps of the U.K. and Ireland are available for £59.99.
The product works with the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, which include an integrated GPS receiver. It will reportedly also be compatible with the first-generation iPhone and the iPod touch once the separate combo hardware kit is made available. TomTom has not yet announced a price for the hardware package.
The TomTom iPhone application includes multi-touch pinch to zoom capabilities, rotates between portrait and landscape mode, seamlessly integrates with the phone’s contact list, and has the ability to add locations. It also includes TomTom IQ Routes, which recommends the smartest possible trip based on the driving habits of others.
The application works in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. It requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later. The U.S. and Canada maps are 1.21GB, Australia is 157MB, New Zealand is 85.6MB, and Western Europe weighs in at 1.44GB.
According to a TomTom press release, other features include:
- Navigation software including fast route planning and clear voice instructions
- Automatic re-routing if a turn is missed
- Route demo or map of route when trip planning
- Alternative route options if avoiding roadblocks, toll ways or looking for high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along route
- 6 million Points of Interest included
- Night and day color mode for optimized screen visibility in varying light conditions
- Change view settings (2D or 3D map display)
- Points-of-interest search and call capabilities from iPhone
