Scarlet Betch: Use the Force Luke... to turn left in .5 miles

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Use the Force Luke... to turn left in .5 miles

Have you ever needed to ask for directions on your way to Mos Eisley? Well search no more, friend.

The popular GPS navigation technology company, TomTom, has released a series of new Star Wars voices for their GPS devices. The first of such voices to guide you through the perils of navigating your vehicle is the infamous Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Now, being a New Yorker... I hate driving. I love jumping on the subway and zipping around town on a bike. But I now almost want to purchase the cheapest used car I can find just to be able to hear the dark lord guide me to my next target... er... destination. Check out a video of Vader's voice recording:

I remember taking a spring break road trip with friends out to Nashville, where we used my parent's GPS device. Whenever we veered off-course our nifty device always said "Recalculating" like a good nice, polite, navigation assistant. What happens when you disobey a Sith lord? Here's hoping it goes something like, "I find your lack of faith disturbing..." #please.

More Star Wars voices are slated to be released in the coming months including:

C-3PO - "The chances of safely navigating the streets of New York are 456,264,742 to 1!"
Yoda - "Grove Street leads to Maple Avenue leads to Birch Boulevard, which leads to... the Dark Side"
Han Solo - "Turn left hear kid, and let's blow this thing and go home!"

One caveat, I'm concerned that Yoda's odd sentence syntax would guide me off a cliff. Read the full announcement after the jump.

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU

~ Official Star Wars™ voices now available, only on TomTom devices ~

Concord, MA – May 4, 2010 – Get ready to feel the Force – behind the wheel! In association with Lucasfilm Ltd. and VoiceSkins.com TomTom brings official Star Wars voices to TomTom navigation devices for the very first time.

Launching today with Sith Lord Darth Vader, the line-up will continue to expand throughout summer 2010 – with C-3PO arriving in June and Yoda in July. The cast will be complete with Han Solo in August.

“We are thrilled to launch these exclusive Star Wars voices, available only on TomTom devices,” said Tom Murray, senior vice president market development at TomTom, Inc. “Now, Star Wars fans around the world can unite their enthusiasm for Star Wars with their driving experience, making every journey more entertaining and enjoyable.”

“The TomTom brand is synonymous with high quality navigation. Star Wars fans are sure to be delighted when they hear just how great these voices sound on their TomTom navigation devices,” says Casey Collins, sr. director of international licensing and marketing at Lucas Licensing..

Darth Vader’s menacing voice and signature breathing add a thrilling dimension to TomTom GPS voice commands. Incorporating dialogue inspired by the original films, Darth Vader delivers navigation instructions such as: “Bear left, to the dark side. Then in 200 yards you have reached your destination. The Force is with you, but you are not a Jedi yet”.

The Darth Vader voice also features original sound effects from the classic films, including lightsaber sounds and TIE fighter flybys. John Williams’ unforgettable Imperial March music is embedded into certain sections of the navigation commentary. With such audio temptation, Darth Vader will turn all TomTom drivers to the dark side!

TomTom customers will also be able to download free of charge various official warning alert sounds voiced by Darth Vader, along with free start up screen wallpaper and Lord Vader map icon.

To celebrate the release of the voices, TomTom is launching a unique Star Wars game where fans can also test their allegiance to the Force, to see if they wish to turn to the dark side.