Yearly, kids around the world impatiently wait for Santa to arrive sometime between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. While traditional set ups include presents under a tree and stocking stuffers rests on a line, kids can now use modern technology like radar and the Internet to keep track of Santa’s arrival a little easier these days.
As usual, NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) is putting aside the task of looking for missile launches and alien invasions to track Santa with powerful radar arrays. Dubbed NORAD Tracks Santa, the annual affair is now in its 60th year, and Microsoft is offering up some special Windows 10 features for kids (and kids-at-heart) to enjoy over at the dedicated site.
Here’s the scoop in the site:
Millions visit the site every December to track Santa on his global journey, and Microsoft has been the site’s partner since 2013.
“This year we’ve got Bing, Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Windows Maps coming together, and again, Microsoft is partnering with NORAD to bring children and their parents a delightful experience,” says Santanu Basu, senior product manager for Bing marketing. “They’ll discover games throughout December, and then they’ll track Santa on the 24th as he’s going around the world, and discover more about those cities he’s visiting.”
First up is an online holiday-themed coloring book Exclusively via the Edge Browser, an online holiday-themed coloring book that utilizes special Edge features like on-screen drawing.
Next is Cortana, which will provide updates on Santa’s location merely by asking the natural question, “Where is Santa Clause?”
Of course, asking right now will give a bit of a different answer.
Then, the Windows 10 Maps app will prompt parents and children to give a look out for Santa’s coordinates, autosuggesting “Where is Santa?” By offering up this suggestion throughout the month, Microsoft is guaranteeing that parents the world ’round will grow even more tired of hearing about Santa from their increasingly agitated children.
Finally, Bing Maps will join in the fun by offering up educational links on countries and providing insight on how each region of the world celebrates the holidays. It’s not only Christmas, you know.
There’s lots to see and do at the NORAD Tracks Santa site, and we’ve only scratched the surface. Check out the video overview to get into the spirit:
You can also download the NORAD Tracks Santa app and get access to most of the same information on the go. Go grab the app for your favorite platform, and then get your holiday spirit on.
