Morgan Freeman is lending his voice to popular GPS driving app Waze, meaning those in the U.S. can be given directions by the soothing, dulcet tones of the legendary Hollywood actor.
Freeman joins other big-name stars, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Hart, who have added their voices to the navigation app in the past — a key promotional tool used by film companies. Indeed, Freeman has a new movie due out in March in which he plays Vice President Trumbull in London has Fallen. Naturally, when you enter the settings area to change your voice, you’ll see some marketing blurb for the upcoming flick.
Above: Morgan Freeman: Waze
Founded out of Israel in 2007, Waze has built a solid reputation for its mobile apps that let anyone share real-time data on traffic and road conditions. It was this popularity and the data it created that led Google to pay north of $1 billion to acquire it back in 2013, shortly before Waze first introduced celebrity voices to the mix.
While this is merely a short-term offering to promote the film, Waze said that Freeman is among its most requested voices by its users, so this will prove popular for sure. It also serves as a reminder that despite the mountain of data Google garners from Waze to improve its other services, including Google Maps, good old-fashioned celebrity affiliations still speaks volumes in the world of mobile apps.