Wow. This is amazing piece of news. Can't wait to hear Bachchan saab's voice regularly while driving. His heavy voice and clear pronounciation of Hindi words is awe inspiring. Hope this rolls out at the earliest.

Such custom options are always welcome but then, if Google is paying top dollar for his voice, would it be a paid option for users?
Years ago TomTom had a paid option to buy and download voices of choice. At that time, I remember Snoop Dogg being one. Jeremy Clarkson's voice was available for a brief period of time only. Don't recollect what the other options were.

Several years ago, Google pulled a similar stunt by getting Morgan Freeman to do a voice-over on Waze. That was when he was promotion his movie "London Has Fallen".

https://www.travelandleisure.com/tra...eman-gps-voice

I suspect getting Mr. Bachchan must be a similar marketing gimmick than a full-fledged voice option. But then, knowing his flair for marketing products, you never know!

I actually hate the Indian lady's voice in Google Maps. I change my phone settings to Google US and get that american lady who is semi-dominant in instructing me.

In all seriousness, the coarse nature of Amitabh Bachchan's voice may make it hard to understand in a hurry.

But why would google waste its money on this? They already are the most popular and almost a monopoly in the field...doesn't make any sense to me.

On the right pronunciation of street names - Just a matter of time before NLP/NLU takes care of that. No additional expense for Google. They ought to have done it already. Don't know what their hold up is.

Marketing.
They are the most popular, this does not mean they should not improve, or try to improve, their service. If they will not, someone else will.

Suppose MapMyIndia takes Amitabh Bachchan's service, imagine the traffic it will divert to mapmyindia. Most of the people just need a little push to try something different.

I think it's a bad idea. I am a BIG fan of the man and bigger fan of his voice. Love the poetry recitations and voice overs that he has done.
But that does not mean I want my apps, personal assistants and everything around me to sound like him.

To take an example - I am unable to appreciate the magic of his voice when he tries to sell hair-oil on television.
Strongly feel that Big B lending voice to Google maps will be no different and shall soon be like 'just another voice'.

I am fine with the default voice that google is offering already and hoping I still get to choose default voice.

After reaching the destination " khush to bohot hoge tum, hai "

With all the deep fake AI in play nowadays, won't it be easier to licence with consent, multiple famous voices from across the globe without actually needing the celebrity to sit in a recording studio to do the lines? I'd like Morgan Freeman!

Rishtey mein toh hum tumhare baap lagte hai... naam hai Shahenshah"

Ok Shahenshah

Update
Just came to know that Waze allows users to record their own driving instructions!

And the process is quite simple too!


Would be great if Google allowed Android users to do this too !

Salman Khan would never reach his desired destination if he ever does that. Because he doesn't listen to himself once he has committed (Pun Intended).

Absolutely not. Unacceptable. I'd rather have James May shouting "YOU INFANTILE PILLOCK!" when I miss a turn. Or better, Shinomiya Kaguya's soothing voice. What's with companies trying to "bollywood" everything? I mean, people will still used maps when they need navigation.