Microsoft and Google will be facing off in an unusual rivalry this holiday season as both companies report Santa's whereabouts on Christmas Eve through their respective "Santa trackers."
Formerly a Google partner, the North American Aerospace Defense Command Santa tracker is now working with Microsoft, while Google has launched Santa Village, the Guardian reported.
While NORAD's Santa-tracking site offers eight languages and includes games and movies, Google's version is an interactive Santa Village. Both sites are currently counting down the days until Santa takes his famous once-a-year journey around the world and will roll out new features as Christmas Eve gets closer.
NORAD had been working with Google until they parted ways last year without specifying any reason for the split.
"NTS and Google mutually agreed to go in new directions, and we are excited to welcome a number of new contributors, to include Microsoft, Windows Azure, Bing and iLink-systems, among others, to help us in our mission of tracking Santa," NORAD said in a statement at the time.
Similar to an advent calendar, Google's Santa Village will unlock new features each day that include both old favorites like reindeer racing and new educational offerings that teach history and geography through Christmas traditions from around the world, Mashable reported.
The village holds a theater with movies; an arcade with games; a music stage with songs; a library with virtual books about Santa Claus and global holiday traditions; and of course, a gift shop to stock up on Santa gear.
Google appears to be integrating the Santa Village with Android Wear as well, saying in a blog post to "check out the chrome extension and keep a watch out for Santa surprises throughout the month," according to Mashable.
A special forthcoming feature from Google will help kids learn to code through a simple Christmas project coded in basic Javascript.
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