Only on the Internet could you find two tech companies competing to track Santa. Last week NORAD, which has tracked Santa since 1955, announced its new Internet Santa service. While it still tracks Santa and his reindeer on Christmas, it replaced Google Maps with Microsoft's Bing Maps.
But Google's not giving up on the business of tracking Mr. Claus. Using its Google Earth and Google Maps products, the Internet search giant is tracking Santa on its own this year with a new algorithm. Yes, that means you've got two Santa tracker options to pick from starting Christmas Eve.
READ MORE: NORAD Tracks Santa Claus Christmas Eve; Google Maps Replaced by Bing
"While we've been tracking Santa since 2004 with Google Earth, this year a team of dedicated Google Maps engineers built a new route algorithm to chart Santa's journey around the world on Christmas Eve," VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, Brian McClendon, wrote on the Official Google blog this week.
The new Santa Tracker doesn't only live on the web at http://www.google.com/santatracker though. There is now a new Chrome extension and Android app to let you follow Santa. Conversely, NORAD's apps, which it has worked on in partnership with Microsoft, are available for the iPhone and Android and Windows Phone 8 smartphones.
However, Google's got more to offer on the entertainment front. It's built out an entire Santa site where you can provide information about your a friend or family member and have Santa give them a call or send them an audio message via email. There are also a few games. The Santa Racer game lets you navigate Santa's sleigh through a track and collect presents and the Present Drop game lets you drop presents into moving chimneys.
Google and NORAD will begin actually tracking Santa on Christmas Eve. No word on if Santa himself plans to use Google or Bing Maps to get to all his destinations; let's just hope he steers clear of using Apple's.
Also Read
Blog List
-
Kaley Cuoco Shows Off Fit Physique In Skin-Revealing Yoga Outfit - By Suzy Byrne Kaley Cuoco leaving yoga class in L.A. on Monday. (X17online.com)Kaley Cuoco gave new meaning to hot yoga on Monday when she emerged from cla...12 years ago
Pageviews
Popular Posts
-
LAS VEGAS (AP) The 20-year-old Rhode Islander who brought the Miss Universe crown back to the U.S. for the first time in 15 years is h...
-
LONDON (AP) It started out as a joke, but ended in tragedy. The sudden death of a nurse who unwittingly accepted a prank call to a Lon...
-
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation from Guatemala to Belize to face questions about the slaying of a...
-
Amazon Smartphone Release Date Rumor Amazon ( AMZN ) has reportedly contracted Foxconn to build its long-rumored Kindle s...
-
(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co customers on Friday had trouble accessing the bank's Web site for a fourth day, as a federal regulator ...
-
(Reuters) - Whether it is improving health or managing finances better, about 87 percent of Americans will make resolutions for 2013 and the...
-
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is looking much better after more than two we...
-
LONDON (AP) Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for British CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported from the U.S. over h...
-
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) Thousands of Christians from the world over packed Manger Square in Bethlehem Monday to celebrate the birth of Jes...
-
Click image to see more photos. (REUTERS/Jamie Germano/Democrat and Chronicle/Handout) A man with a criminal history shot and killed two Wes...