The face behind the GPS voice finds fame “Australian-English Karen”
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 9:33pm
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 17 years
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/627161...
If you’ve ever used a GPS device for directions, you might already be acquainted with Karen Jacobsen. As the voice of “Australian-English Karen” in Garmin GPS products, she calmly instructs harried drivers to turn left, go 1.8 miles or “recalculate” their trips every day.
Jacobsen recently spoke with the Chronicle’s Kristin Finan about her sense of direction, being yelled at by strangers and how her virtual gig with Garmin has helped her achieve celebrity status in real life. Some excerpts, edited and condensed...
Wow
After seeing that picture I'm going to have to start using that voice.
See previous discussion on this topic. :)
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/5960
*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*
I was nice to actually be
I was nice to actually be able to put a face with the voice I hear so often.
Thx.
HAHAHAHAHA
i have a friend named kristen jacobsen.. that to me is hilarious.
its funny how putting a face to the voice is.. anyone here seen Singin in the Rain???
A pedestrian is someone who thought there were a couple of gallons left in the tank.
Now
That's a voice I'd love to hear more than just in the car!
"For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know."
Oh yeah
She is right fit!
"Life is a journey - enjoy the ride!" Garmin nuvi 255
Beautiful Lady!
Beautiful Lady!
I Think i may change mine.lol
WOW!!!!
Nuvi 660. Nuvi 40 Check out. www.houserentalsorlando.com Irish Saying. A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.
I am now listening to karen!
I am now listening to karen!
Steve
Very pretty! And a very nice
Very pretty! And a very nice lady too!!
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/21626 - red light cameras do not work
Karen as a bmp
HOLY COW! I had NO IDEA that this is Australian Karen! Can someone turn her promo shot into a full screen bmp file and show me how to make it pop up every time "recalculating" is voiced. I might just find myself driving off-course if her pic filled my Garmin screen!!!
Bob
Garmin 2595LMT, Garmin 750, Garmin 780, Garmin 76Csx, GPS Bluetooth receiver for laptop
oh yeah!
I like
Yes, Karen's cute ... but
Yes, Karen's cute ... but I've been trying to figure out whether the Red-head on Mygarmin page is real or a figment of someone's animation.
Garmin, if they care about their customers, should really post this sort of information on their website.
I can live without map updates but this stuff, I gotta know!
Ha!
Garmin 205, 260W, 1450LMT, 2460LMT, HEREwego for iPhone ... all still mapping strong.
OMG...how do I get Karen back?
In a foolish move to open up some space on my 200W I deleted all but American Jill from my unit's voices. Is there any way to get Karen back? Flowers? Candy? Diamonds? Or, even just a single file download?
NEOhioGuy - Garmin 2639, MIO Knight Rider, TomTom (in Subaru Legacy), Nuvi 55, DriveSmart 51, Apple CarPlay maps
use webupdater
Then you can select the voices you want to install.
Jerry...Jacksonville,Fl Nüvi1450,Nuvi650,Nuvi 2495 and Mapsource.
The perfect women
And she even comes with a mute button!!!
It's those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same. With all of our running and all of our cunning, If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.
Nice feature!
And she even comes with a mute button!!!
Nice feature!
Garmin Nuvi 750
Thanks for the tip, but...
Then you can select the voices you want to install.
that's what I thought too. However, the list of files for download don't include "voice, Australian" or even "voice, American" for that matter. It leads me to believe that only updated files show up in the list of possible downloads. I even used the re-install original option and don't find it.
I decided to send Garmin an email through their troubleshooting site, so let's see how their response is.
NEOhioGuy - Garmin 2639, MIO Knight Rider, TomTom (in Subaru Legacy), Nuvi 55, DriveSmart 51, Apple CarPlay maps
well, personally, I don't
well, personally, I don't want to share my "woman" with all of you, so I guess I am going to have to get another GPSr, yeah, that's a great excuse!!!!!
Charley - Nuvi 350 - Bel STI Driver - Cobra 29 w/ wilson 1000 - AIM: asianfire -
Okay, update to my update...
Then you can select the voices you want to install.
that's what I thought too. However, the list of files for download don't include "voice, Australian" or even "voice, American" for that matter. It leads me to believe that only updated files show up in the list of possible downloads. I even used the re-install original option and don't find it.
I decided to send Garmin an email through their troubleshooting site, so let's see how their response is.
In this "instant gratificaton" world I decided right after my post above, that I would just "google" Karen. Here's what I found: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1043#...
Apparently I was able to find Garmin's own download page for Karen hidden in their support pages somewhere. What has me concerned though before downloading is that it appears to be TTS (text-to-speech), and at 14+Mb is much larger than the typical voice files of my 200W which isn't TTS capable anyway. So before I download it, I wondering if anyone knows:
1. Will it even work on a 200W?
2. Will the file size even fit? (given that I deleted all other voice files to increase capacity in the first place)
This is turning out to be just as difficult as finding a non-electronic woman!
NEOhioGuy - Garmin 2639, MIO Knight Rider, TomTom (in Subaru Legacy), Nuvi 55, DriveSmart 51, Apple CarPlay maps
Thank you, Karen!
Garmin picked the right voice in Karen!
200w
Will it even work on a 200W?
Speaks street names (e.g. "Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft."): NO
karen will not do you anygood.
Jerry...Jacksonville,Fl Nüvi1450,Nuvi650,Nuvi 2495 and Mapsource.
Won't work.
Edit: I see the previous poster was correct. Karen is a Text-to-speech voice. This is not supported on a 200W.
The 14MB voices are for the 7xx and 8xx series units and won't work on your unit if all of your other TTS voices are (were) ~1.5MB. I've tried to put the 14MB version on a 265wt and they don't work. I read somewhere (don't recall right now) that the 14MB vs. 1.5MB voices use a different rendering engine.
Karen is available from here (2x5 version):
http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4149
Read or view the page source code for instructions.
Hopes dashed...
Will it even work on a 200W?
Speaks street names (e.g. "Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft."): NO
karen will not do you anygood.
That's what I thought too as I noted the TTS in the filename. The upside to this is, I may just decide to take that 755T off my wishlist and pickup Karen!
NEOhioGuy - Garmin 2639, MIO Knight Rider, TomTom (in Subaru Legacy), Nuvi 55, DriveSmart 51, Apple CarPlay maps
I find it pretty funny
she mentions her favorite word is "recalculating". That's probably the word heard most often, at least in my car.
I knew that she had to be a
I knew that she had to be a hottie after listening to her directions.
could u imagine being in the
could u imagine being in the car with her.. if she talks through a microphone through your speakers itd get confusing lol
A pedestrian is someone who thought there were a couple of gallons left in the tank.
Change
I am changing mine to Karen tomorrow!
"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score" Lombardi