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Tag: Santa Tracker

  • Michelle Obama Serves as Santa’s Helper on Christmas Eve, Takes Calls for NORAD

    Michelle Obama shirked her first lady duties on Christmas Eve so she could help the man in red. That’s right–Michelle Obama was one of Santa’s helpers on Christmas Eve.

    Manning the phones for NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command), located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Michelle Obama talked with some of the children calling in to learn Santa’s whereabouts.

    In Hawaii for Christmas, Michelle Obama shocked some children–and their parents, too–when they learned they were talking to the first lady on Christmas Eve. Some of the kids, however, had no idea who she was.

    Reminding the children that Santa couldn’t deliver their gifts until they were asleep, the first lady likely made life a bit easier for parents of overly excited children.

    NORAD Tracks Santa started back in 1955, when a child trying to figure out where Santa was dialed a wrong number and ended up talking to a commander at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs. The commander told the child where Santa was, and a tradition was made. NORAD took over the Santa-tracking responsibility when it was formed in 1958. The program has been online since 1997, and its website–noradsanta.org–gets requests from children from around the world.

    This year marks the sixth in a row that Michelle Obama has taken part in the exciting holiday tradition.

  • NORAD Santa Tracker Live: Watch Santa’s Progress

    It’s time! The NORAD Santa Tracker has gone live, following Santa’s progress around the world as he delivers gifts this Christmas Eve. The NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracker began early this morning, with Santa’s first stop in Russia and a travel route that crosses Asia, Africa, Europe, and then the Americas.

    This tracking Santa tradition began in 1955, when a typographical error caused children to dial NORAD’s number nstead of a Santa tracker. The NORAD team was instructed to give the children news about Santa’s whereabouts, and have been doing so ever since. Nowadays, the company uses a computer-generated simulator (but they’ll still answer phone calls, too). There’s also an interactive, learning aspect too: users can click photos on the map and learn more about the parts of the world that Santa has visited.

    In addition to tracking his progress, the program also updates how many gifts Santa’s delivered along the way:

    (There’s even an iOS app, too.)

    NORAD was in the news earlier this week when it faced criticism that the program is injecting militarism into Christmas. Regardless, the website had 22 million unique visitors last year and has 1.4 million Facebook likes.

    Image via News Distribution Network

  • Google’s Santa Tracker Goes Live On Christmas Eve

    Earlier this month, Google revealed its new Santa Tracker for 2013. While it may have lost NORAD to Microsoft, it put together its own (and arguably better) Santa Tracker experience to help kids keep track of where the big man is on Christmas Eve.

    While Google has been updating the Santa Tracker site all month with new games, animations and activities; the actual tracking has yet to begin. According to Google, parents and kids will be able to actually begin tracking Santa on Christmas Eve at 2:00 a.m. PST/5:00 a.m. EST.

    So, how can kids track Santa this year? For those who prefer to keep things traditional, you can stick to the Santa Tracker Web site here. While you’re tracking Santa, you can play around with all the games and activities currently available on the site.

    Speaking of which, Google has a fun little activity that lets you send personalized voice messages from Santa to your friends. By filling out a questionnaire, you can build a message that includes your friend’s name, their interests, what they want for Christmas and so much more. Unfortunately, the messages can only be shared via email, Google+ or a link. It would have been much better if you could send the message via a phone call, but that might have been too much to ask for.

    Moving back to the topic at hand, Google has a number of other avenues for you to track Santa if you don’t have access to the Web site. First, there’s the Android app that not only features the Santa Tracker, but a number of games as well. If a smartphone or tablet is too small of a screen for you, you can also display the Android app on your TV using Chromecast.

    Finally, Google has also released a Chrome extension so that you can always have the Santa Tracker in your browser regardless of where you are on the Web. It even has a fun little interactive toy that lets you frost over your Web page.

    If you want more info about Google’s Santa tracker, check out this Google Maps blog post.

    Image via Google

  • NORAD Tracks Santa, Critics Hop On

    NORAD Tracks Santa has brought excitement to children around the world since 1955. The Christmas-themed program is produced under the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and has been found in various forms of media over the years: telephone hotlines, television, internet, and mobile media.

    But this year the program has come under attack. According to Yahoo News, a children’s advocacy group says the video on the website injects militarism into Christmas by showing fighter jets escorting Santa’s sleigh.

    This video on NORAD’s Santa website started the commotion two weeks ago:

    U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a NORAD spokesman, says that the fighter escort is nothing new, that jets began accompanying Santa’s sleigh in the 1960s, and insists that the fighters are unarmed.

    “We really do feel strongly that it’s something that is safe and non-threatening, and not something that would negatively impact children,” he said. “In fact, we think that it’s a lot of fun.”

    The Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood disagrees, saying that the video brings violence to a beloved tradition.

    This controversy has sparked up a lot of talk on social media sites like Twitter.

    The first 39-second video has gotten nearly 265,000 views on YouTube.

    “That’s way off the charts for any other videos we’ve done before,” Davis said.

    Now there is a second video, longer and fast-paced, on the NORAD site and YouTube called “NORAD Tracks Santa Command Video 2013,” which has already drawn over 121,000 views.

    “This is very much a fun and safe and nonviolent site that children of all ages can visit,” Davis said. “Parents can be confident their children will walk away (and) have had fun and potentially have learned something, too.”

    Fans of all ages can follow Santa on the web, Facebook, Twitter, by phone (starting 4 a.m. MST on Christmas Eve): 877-HI-NORAD, and even via email: [email protected].

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Google May Have Lost NORAD, But It’s Still Tracking Santa This Year

    After years of collaboration with Google, NORAD decided to partner with Microsoft instead last year to release its Santa Tracker app exclusively on Windows 8. That’s not going to change this year, but Google will be releasing its own Santa Tracker app that takes advantage of the new Google Maps.

    Google announced today that it’s launching the Google Santa Tracker just in time for Christmas. As you would expect, the main focus of the tracker is to let children chart Santa’s journey on Christmas Eve using Google Maps, but it’s so much more.

    Google’s Santa Tracker app doubles as an interactive advent calendar of sorts that unlocks new games and animated shorts every day leading up to Christmas. All of these games and animated shorts tell a story of how the North Pole prepares for Christmas. Here’s my personal favorite so far:

    While the Santa Tracker can already be accessed on the Web, Google will also be releasing new mobile apps in the middle of December. The Android Santa Tracker app will feature games and a Santa Tracker app powered by Google apps. The app also supports Google Chromecast so you’ll be able to stream your phone’s content to the TV.

    Interestingly enough, Google will be releasing a Santa Tracker app for Google Glass as well. This seems a little strange as Google has repeatedly stated that Glass is not intended for children, but the only people who would be really interested in a Santa Tracker app are said children. The only use for this I can see is a parent impressing their child by saying that they has a direct line to Santa embedded in their eyewear.

    As for other features, Google is setting up a social media service that will let you send postcards and calls from Santa to friends and family members during the holidays. You can also look for Santa on Google Maps by simply typing in “Santa” into the search box, but this feature will only be available on Christmas Eve.

    Finally, you can grab the Santa Tracker Chrome extension to keep track of how many days are left until Christmas. You can also customize the Google homepage with three animations, including one that covers the entire page in frost.

    Google Still Tracking Santa This Year

    If you still yearn for the authentic NORAD experience, you can check out what they’ve got cooking in collaboration with Microsoft over here. The site is built with Internet Explorer 11 in mind, but Chrome or Firefox should work just fine.

    [Image: Google Santa Tracker]

  • Google Shares Behind-The-Scenes Look At Santa Tracker App

    As NORAD went with Bing in 2012 as its provider of choice for tracking Santa, Google put together its on Santa Tracker app for Android. Over the weekend, the company posted a video of the app’s developers discussing its making. It should prove to be an interesting watch for those of you developing for Android.

    And here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the Chrome experience for the Santa Tracker:

  • NORAD’s Santa Tracker Site Goes Live

    Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And he’s about to be under high-tech surveillance.

    It’s only a few weeks until Santa Claus comes to town, and for years the North American Aerospace Defense Command has been helping anxious kids and curious adults track jolly St. Nick as he delivers presents to all the good boys and girls of the world.

    Today, the NORAD Tracks Santa site is finally up and running for 2011 – and it sports a countdown to when the tracking begins, which is of course December 24th.

    NORAD has been helping families track the whereabouts of Santa for years, using a multi-faceted approach. First, they use the NORAD radar system called the “North Warning System.” This is what they use to find out the precise moment Santa leaves the North Pole.

    Once he takes off, the use satellites “positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface [that] are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat.” If you haven’t guessed, Rudolph’s nose helps make this method particularly useful.

    Next come the Santa cams, which are high-tech digital cameras that are positioned all over the world and only used once a year, for this precise purpose. Lastly, Canadian fighter jets intercept Santa as he is making his way south, and American NORAD pilots fly alongside Santa as he enters the U.S.

    Of course, all of this is available for viewing using Google Earth. The actual 3D Santa tracking will be available on the NORAD Tracks Santa site starting Christmas Eve. You can also track Santa’s movements on the @NoradSanta Twitter account. Here’s an example of the types of updates you can expect there:

    @NoradSanta
    noradsanta    Only a few hrs to go! #Santa just zoomed through Eugene, Medford, and now Ashland, Oregon. Did anyone catch a glimpse of him? 341 days ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    While you wait for the tracking to commence, the Santa Tracker site is offering the “Countdown Village,” which will reveal a new “fun activity” each day until the 24th. Today’s activity is a Christmas tree lights puzzle game.

    Also, while you wait, check out this video from the 2010 Santa tracking experience:

    Have you been naughty or nice so far this year? Let us know in the comments.