Hate listening to your Nav guide or GPS? TomTom offering Homer Simpson voice to guide to destination

July 9, 3:01 PMExotic Car ExaminerKae Davis

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No word yet from TomTom when Homer Simpson will help Americans find their way to work and home.

Since June of 2009, TomTom users in the U.K. and Ireland have been able to add Homer Simpson to their navigation's co-pilot GPS voice-based repertoire. Customizing your GPS nav voice is now as easy as customizing your computer desktops, screen savers, wallpaper, and web browsers. Say bye-bye to that broad with the exotic sounding voice. Tell that Australian guy to shut the heck up. And forget about having to worry about your wife listening more to that Daniel guy with the British accent. Get ready to roll with the American "Simpsons" hero while giving yourself a unique and funny gift of getting out to see the McWorld.

WHO WOULD YOU RATHER LISTEN TO WHILE DRIVING -- YOUR GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, SOME RANDOM GUY, OR HOMER SIMPSON GIVING YOU DIRECTIONS?

According to TomTom and Motortrend.com, the navigation company has added the "Homer Simpson" character, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, to its list of 70 celebrity voices that can be purchased like aftermarket parts -- in this case by buying computer based applications online called "skins" and using the Internet to download them.

From the Americana icon Homer,  cartoon star of the comic sitcom that has made families across the globe laugh (including Americans with shameful pride), Motortrend reports, "... you can expect a litany of gems like, "You have reached your destination, and you can hold your head up high, because you are a genius." and "Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck!""

According to the auto news mag staff writer, "To hear samples, check TomTom's global Web site here. Homer's voice is available for download immediately for €9.95 ($13.90), but, unfortunately, the add-on is only available in Ireland and the U.K. It's probably for the better, as we'd have difficulty choosing between him and John Cleese."

We assume he's speaking collectively (as we here in the U.S. with a well developed and worldly sense of humor tend to agree).

CELEBRITY VOICES HELPING EXOTIC AND CLASSIC AUTO DRIVERS ARRIVE LIKE WELL-DIRECTED STARS

If you are driving a classic exotic car or older model luxury car, chances are the vehicle did not come with a navigation system built into the dash.  Avid drivers have turned to adding GPS systems like the TomTom to help them explore the streets and highways across the country and around the town.

As we said, over 70 voices have been electronically dubbed to reproduce famous movie character lines.  The devices sound like the celebs the clever electronic interactive navigator system replicates, so they actually are quite fun to have on when tooling about the town.

Celebrity voices are also available for TomTom from the independent company www.tomtom-voices.com.

Claudia, the supermodel navigator, is based on famous blonde Claudia Shiffer.

Brad, "Mr. Pittstop", is happy to ride along (minus Pitt's famous baby-mama Angelina Jolie. He's happy to tell women drivers (or friendly guys) that they are cute and make him smiley.

Sean, the spy navigator based on the James Bond character 007, promises to help you arrive at your destination, "Shaken, not stirred."

Arnie, the navigator, won't terminate you; he's designed to protect you against human directional areas, helping you both to be back.

'TomTom Voices' is an independent company with an exclusive link through arrangement with TomTom in 14 countries. They have supplied TomTom with voices in English, French and Spanish.
 

 Top 10 Funniest Homer Simpson Quotes of All Time

1. Oh! look at that car burn! Does it get any better than this?
2. Operator! Give me the number for 911!
3. Well, it's 1 a.m. Better go home and spend some quality time with the kids.
4. I'm going to the back seat of my car, with the woman I love, and I won't be back for ten minutes!
5. What’s the point of going out? We’re just going to wind up back here anyway.
6. I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman!
7. How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?
8. I'm in a place where I don't know where I am!
9. Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love!
   
10. Marge: Homer, is this how you pictured married life?
    Homer: Yeah, pretty much, except we drove around in a van solving mysteries.