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Waze navigation app gets in touch with its feminine side

One of two new features for the Tel Aviv-founded app is a female pronouns option to navigation voice “Sivan.”

By Adi Pick, Calcalist

Alphabet-owned navigation app developer Waze announced on Monday two new features to be rolled out in Israel. The first is the addition of a female pronouns option to navigation voice “Sivan,” one of five voices currently available in Hebrew. The new feature will be available as of July 21, the company said.

The second feature Waze revealed, available since Monday, is a toll-pricing feature that is already available in the U.S. The new feature notifies users of any fees when calculating a route, enabling better and more economic planning.

Founded in 2008, Tel Aviv-based Waze develops an app that uses crowdsourced data to offer real-time navigation directions and notify users of road closures, traffic jams, police presence, speed cameras, and other traffic alerts based on location. The company reports over 110 million monthly active users. In 2013, Google acquired Waze for $1.3 billion.