Video: Knight Rider GPS asks, "Michael, where do you want to go today"

You can't purchase it for few more months, so we thought you'd like to see a brief preview of Mio's $270 Knight Rider GPS unit. It boots into a KITT scanner effect and warm, "Michael, where do you want to go today" greeting. Fortunately, you can then reprogram KITT to address you from a list of 200 or so other names (with more to come). Add Flux Capacitor and your ride to nerdvana is complete. See the action after the break.

[Thanks, Joe P.]

[itsnotabigtruck @ Jun 24th 2008 1:44AM]

Slow news day?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/20/mios-knight-rider-gps-speaks-with-the-voice-of-kitt-were-in/

[Thomas Ricker @ Jun 24th 2008 2:00AM]

Er, not a repost, it's the first video/audio of a device which boasts KITT's voice as its primary feature.

Thomas

[BigBirdUK @ Jun 24th 2008 2:50AM]

'It boots into a KITT scanner effect and warm, "Michael, where do you want to go today" greeting'

Did you possibly mean 'effete'?

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2004/01/10.html

[Taylor @ Jun 24th 2008 2:52AM]

This one is showcasing the video.
The other post doesn't have vidoe

[Matthew C @ Jun 24th 2008 2:17PM]

If its not a big truck, what the hell is it, a little one?

It better be big enough to fit this GPS...

[MastrCake @ Jun 24th 2008 1:45AM]

Oh my god. I almost passed out when it said my name!

[gr689 @ Jun 24th 2008 1:48AM]

He doesnt sound like he did back in the 80's. It doesn't sound like he trying to sound like KITT anymore LOL

[Jon Doe. @ Jun 24th 2008 2:48AM]

You get old, your voice changes. Nothing new here. That and it IS a you tube video on a crappy camera video recording from a pair of, possibly, crappy speakers. So take it with a grain of salt.

[Jeff @ Jun 24th 2008 1:51AM]

mahhh repost

[phanbouy @ Jun 24th 2008 1:53AM]

ya... it has the whiff of day-olds at the bakery

[pcdsim @ Jun 24th 2008 2:50AM]

Some of you don't know the difference between still pictures and moving pictures AKA video.

[BobTurbo @ Jun 24th 2008 1:52AM]

The only problem is it keeps telling you to quickly turn back in the other direction.

[yh @ Jun 24th 2008 2:13AM]

Is Mio based out of Fremont or did they just decide to pick the most boring suburb in all of Silicon Valley to map in that picture?

[Super Geeky @ Jun 24th 2008 10:50AM]

yup...based out of Fremont

[larrylevine @ Jun 24th 2008 2:45AM]

Sooo... They could get him for the GPS toy but not the new series???

[Jon Doe. @ Jun 24th 2008 2:54AM]

If TV production and execs has taught us anything they didn't want to go with the tried and true voice *flame on* because that is SOOOOOO last century. *flame off* We are going to go in a new and bold direction!
.
.
.In short I'd say there is a better then average chance that the above is what happened.

[Pingmeister @ Jun 24th 2008 4:15AM]

There are seventeen mullet-wearing 42-year-old Trans-Am drivers at our local Best Buy already waiting in line.

[Lara @ Jun 24th 2008 4:17AM]

i think he sounds rather sexy ;p

[StephenD @ Jun 24th 2008 4:36AM]

Sounded more Thurston Howell III than KITT. I guess his voice has 'matured' over the years.

[RC @ Jun 24th 2008 4:37AM]

Isn't that the Windows 95 campaign slogan?

[Hansel @ Jun 24th 2008 4:57AM]

I'm just glad my name isn't Dave. It doesn't have a big red eye does it?

[Martin Cashman @ Jun 24th 2008 5:08AM]

Sounds more like a camp butler than the KITT I remember.

[TechNutt @ Jun 24th 2008 5:06AM]

That is one geek toy I would love to have. The voice does sound very familiar.....I just watched Knight Rider the other day with the Hoff exposing his protruding chest hair while wearing his tight pants. I would like to see the list of programmable names. Also, I think the theme song should be included along with K.I.T.T.'s special effect sounds. That would just send it over the top!

[Metkis @ Jun 24th 2008 5:54AM]

That is one hell of a niche market.

[Motoken @ Jun 24th 2008 12:35PM]

actually i am not a knight rider fan, but this seems nice enough to buy, just for the voice and light effects.

[Cassini @ Jun 24th 2008 7:06AM]

Now that I see a video of it in operation and how the LED's work, how the voice sounds, etc., I'm starting to like it more. And $270 is a very reasonable price.

I still want to know how the GPS performs, though.

I'd also cover up the "Knight Rider" badge above the screen with some thin, black vinyl of some sort that would blend in because I think the badge is a big tacky, but apart from that, I can see they did a good job with everything else. At first, I didn't think they had, but that was prior to this vid.

I've been wanting to buy a PND for some time now... Normally, I'm not into gimmicks, but I might make an exception with this.

[Jeff @ Jun 24th 2008 7:44AM]

The GPS will no doubt perform the same as pretty much every other PND on the market. There's not a whole lot that a manufacturer can screw up. They all use the same maps (there are only two providers), they mostly use the same chipsets, they have similar routing algorithms.

Yeah, it's worth waiting to see if there's some egregious bug that continuously sends you the wrong way down one-way streets or something, but short of that, I think you're going to be pretty safe. Most of the differentiation between PND's these days is in the interface (graphics/update speeds/voice, etc.). And the interface is most of the reason why anyone would be interested in this.

[Cassini @ Jun 24th 2008 7:08AM]

Now that I see a video of it in operation and how the LED's work, how the voice sounds, etc., I'm starting to like it more. And $270 is a very reasonable price.

I still want to know how the GPS performs, though.

I'd also cover up the "Knight Rider" badge above the screen with some thin, black vinyl of some sort that would blend in because I think the badge is a big tacky, but apart from that, I can see they did a good job with everything else. At first, I didn't think they had, but that was prior to this vid.

I've been wanting to buy a PND for some time now... Normally, I'm not into gimmicks, but I might make an exception with this.

[Cassini @ Jun 24th 2008 7:11AM]

Engadget, would you guys pleeeeeeease get your comment system worked out? (Editing and deletion capability, etc., and no more double posts). We'd all be very grateful.

[Smacksmackums @ Jun 24th 2008 7:51AM]

I was hoping for bluetooth. Looks like that's a missing feature though.

[teh_dahl @ Jun 24th 2008 11:39AM]

Fracking Cylons.

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 24th 2008 11:57AM]

I cant wait till they release a Porn Star Voice..... "Oh micheal please take me ahhhhhhhhhh where do you want to go?" "Oh yeah baby uhhhhh right there yeah right in this road" lmao "take this bad boy and put it through there"

[Dan @ Jun 24th 2008 2:08PM]

I'd like it a little better if it didn't sound *really stressed* when saying a name.

[kat @ Jun 24th 2008 11:36PM]

So Mio have made a new shiny front facia for the Navman S series added a few flashing red leds and changed the blue user interface to black. Some people seem to like it so i suppose this kind of approach to consumer goods is ok?