NORAD And Microsoft Produce Santa Tracker With 3D Claymation And Touch Support

NORAD's Santa Tracker is a fun way for kids to keep an eye on Santa's journey around the globe on December 24, when he delivers presents to homes around the world. This year, the service has received an upgrade due in no small part to work with Microsoft, which has dabbled in the area in the past. For Santa watchers this December, the NORAD tracker has 3D claymation animations and is completely touch-friendly.

You can see what the Santa tracker looks like in the image above, with the Santa's village portion having the same nostalgic claymation animations as the globe. The village is interactive, with users being able to access new games on a daily basis, as well as video and music and more. Making it even better is the new completely touch-friendly design, which opens it up to use on tablets and smartphones.

With the touch support, users will be able to spin the globe, as well as zoom in on Santa's various stops with pinch-and-zoom, which pulls up images from Bing Maps. As always, users will also be able to call the NORAD hotline for command center news on Santa's progress, something that can be done this year from Skype as well as traditionally through a telephone.

Said NORAD Tracks Santa Program Manager Stacey Knott: "The Internet Explorer team and everyone at Microsoft have taken the spirit of the holidays that's central to what we do with NORAD Tracks Santa and helped bring it to today's modern web and devices. We're hearing so many fun comments from people who are checking out the new website and apps and love what they see."

SOURCE: TechNet