Are You Ready to Hear 'Hasta La Vista, Baby' From Waze?

From now until mid-July, your navigation app may well be speaking to you in the voice of actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Haaretz

Jun 16, 2015

Send in e-mailSend in e-mail

Arnold Schwarzenegger at a preview of Terminator Genisys in Sydney, Australia in early June.Credit: AP

Haaretz

Jun 16, 2015

The next time you're trying to find your way with Waze, you may just encounter a familiar, Austrian-accented voice giving you directions, USA Today reports.

The Israeli traffic and navigation app, now owned by Google, has landed actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will lend his voice and Terminator persona to Waze from now through mid-July.

"I'm a Terminator Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, and you're coming with me," Schwarzenegger will say when you begin your journey.

For the actor, working with Waze is a way of promoting his new movie, "Terminator Genesis," which opens in the United States on July 1. The app company had to form a partnership with Paramount Studios to snag him.

For Waze, a free app that earns revenue from advertising, a celebrity voice such as that of Schwarzenegger helps it stand out in an increasingly crowded market that includes Google Maps and Navigon.

There's a certain irony to the partnership. "In 1984, when we did the first "Terminator," we talked about the world being run by machines," Schwarzenegger told USA Today. "It was science fiction then. Now you have machines telling you where to drive."

All it took was a one-hour recording session to provide the automated prompts for Waze — everything from routine commands such as "turn left" to the "Hasta la vista, Baby" Schwarzenegger says at the end of the journey.

"It is an added entertainment. Where I come in, I'm bringing the Arnold twist," Schwarzenegger said. "Even in the recording studio, people were laughing at every single line when I put the Arnold spin on it."

Schwarzenegger said he's a fan of the app and will be programming his Waze to Terminator mode.

"Of course I'm going to use my voice," Schwarzenegger said. "That's a must. When I get into the car and a passenger sits there and all of a sudden you punch up the app and there's me talking. Then they will go, 'What the hell is going on in this car?' It's funny."