There was huge excitement in our house this Christmas Eve when a Nokia N8 smartphone arrived all the way from New York. We were sent it, free of charge, to test out Own Voice – their Ovi Maps voice personalization tool. Basically it means you can record your own voice, download it onto Ovi Maps and use your phone as a Sat-Nav.
I’ve never owned a smartphone before and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up to the task of testing Own Voice, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. It was agreed that my own voice giving out directions on a long car journey or even walking to the shops would prove highly annoying, not by me I hasten to add but by the rest of the family.
So in the end we used IJ’s voice. She had great fun recording all the different words and phrases. It only took a couple of minutes and then we tested it out on a number of journeys over the New Year. We thought it was great. The sound of a seven-year-old telling my dad to ‘observe the speed limit’ was priceless.
You can record as many voice packs as you like or choose from the selection available, which includes everything from a distinguished lady to Borat.
I have to admit I am a little bit in love with the phone. It travels with me everywhere and is second in my affections only to my daughter. My family, who have seen me flashing it around over the past few weeks, will vouch for this.
The Own Voice app is an added bonus and we highly recommend it.
Get you with a smartphone! I'm not jealous at all. Not at all, really. Honest.
Posted by: notSupermum | January 10, 2011 at 06:35 PM
I know! Good isn't it! I've joined the digital age. I'll be talking techno soon, whatever that is.
Posted by: Rosie Scribble | January 10, 2011 at 06:47 PM
We got sent this as well, but unfortunately haven't been able to make the phone work at all. Bit gutted because it looks really pretty, but it's a devil to set up, I think.
Posted by: Sally Whittle | January 10, 2011 at 11:21 PM
Love that got your daughter to record the instructions, fab idea! :)
Posted by: Mommy@Bodfortea | January 11, 2011 at 05:01 AM
Sally, I'm not using the SIM card that came with the phone. My contract is with Vodafone so I've simply switched over the SIMS. My current contract covers internet access so I've set up the phone to access my wireless network.
So try using it with your existing SIM card and see if that works. Hope it does as the phone is great.
Posted by: Rosie Scribble | January 11, 2011 at 07:39 AM
Her voice sounds a lot sweeter than mine!
Posted by: Rosie Scribble | January 11, 2011 at 07:40 AM
Sadly no - I put in my own SIM (also Vodafone) and can connect to Wifi and make calls, but unfortunately it won't send or receive text messages, or accept the details for any of my three email accounts which, given I use my phone for work, makes the handset useless - I've suggested I send it back to the PR.
Posted by: Sally Whittle | January 11, 2011 at 09:22 AM