It could be the most controversial technological break-up since Apple ditched Google maps for its own inferior version. 
 
 On Wednesday, the North American Aeropsace Defense Command (Norad), announced that it has teamed up with Microsoft Bing to power its annual "Santa tracker" after its previous partner, Google, announced it was launching its own version. 
 
 Norad, which usually spends its time monitoring the air space above the US and Canada for unexplained or criminal aerospace activity, has "tracked" the worldwide progress of Santa's gift-giving journeys at Christmas since 1955. For the past five years, it used Google Maps to display its "data", which is hugely popular with children. 
 
 Norad said the split from Google Maps, who it had worked with to track Santa since 2007, was a mutual decision. 
 
 Google now has its own virtual Santa space , which features an animated interactive tour of Santa's village, including games and a service to offer personalized telephone calls from Santa to children. 
 
 In response, Norad signed up Bing to be its official mapping tool. Microsoft joins 51 other organizations who work offer their services pro-bono to Norad for the agency's more than 60-year-old tradition. 
 
 Norad's tracking feature will also include information about the elevation and direction of Santa's "journey" and photos, weather and Wikipedia information on the destinations. 
 
 Before working with Norad, Google tracked Santa using its Google Earth tool. The company will still be loosely affiliated with Norad as Google-owned YouTube will continue to host dispatches from the government agency concerning Santa's whereabouts. 
 
 Updates from Norad on the Christmas journey will also be available on Twitter, Facebook and by placing calls to the agency's Santa tracking phone line 877 HI-NORAD. 
 
 Norad, and its predecessor the Continental Air Defense Command (Conad), have been tracking Santa since 1955. It started when a department store ad accidentally listed the agency's phone number as a way to follow Santa. A Norad worker who answered a call from a child wondering about Santa's whereabouts decided to follow the ruse and the agency has been involved with the tradition ever since. 
 
 More than 1,250 Canadian and Americans volunteer on Christmas eve to maintain the tradition. 
 
 There's no word yet on whether the switch from Google to Bing's mapping service will likely help or hinder Santa's progress. ||||| After five years of working with Google, NORAD has switched to Microsoft Bing to track Santa's sleigh ride this Christmas Eve. 
 
 That hasn't stopped Google from continuing to monitor Santa on its own. 
 
 NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, thinks it has the most sophisticated system for watching the Big Guy. It uses "four high-tech systems to track Santa—radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets." 
 
 NORAD has been tracking Santa for 62 years, long before the introduction of Google Maps, Bing Maps, or the Internet, for that matter. 
 
 It's a pretty serious endeavor, too. 25 million people will use NORAD's Santa-tracking site this year, which will run on Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud-computing platform and Bing Maps, reports Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld. 
 
 NORAD is also offering Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Android Santa-tracking apps. 
 
 NORAD's Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis says it isn't leaving Google because of any problems. 
 
 "It was a mutually agreed-upon split," Gaudin reports. 
 
 Google isn't hopping off the Santa sleigh ride, according to a blog post by Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth. 
 
 "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. On his sleigh, arguably the fastest airborne vehicle in the world, Santa whips from city to city delivering presents to millions of homes." 
 
 NORAD will begin tracking Santa at 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 24, via the new apps, its website, or email sent to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com. (Outlook.com is another Microsoft product.) People can also call the official Santa tracking phone number, 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) for live updates. 
 
 Google will begin tracking Santa at 2:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Dec. 24, via its Santa Tracker website, a new Chrome extension or an Android app and its Google+, Facebook, and Twitter pages. 
 
 Don't miss: Guess When These 20 Sci-Fi Technologies Are Coming To Your Phone Or PC ||||| The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has employed all its hi-tech equipment to follow Father Christmas as he, and his reindeer, travel the globe delivering presents. 
 
 Since its development three years ago, the Norad Father Christmas Tracker has become an internet sensation with close to a two billion hits. 
 
 His progress can also be tracked with three dimensional "Father Christmas Cams". Google will use its mapping service to give up-to-the-date analysis on where he is. This year will include streaming video of his journey for the first time. 
 
 "There are a lot of people who follow this in different ways," said Lt. Desmond James , a public affairs officer with NORAD, which is also responsible for defending the US and Canada from incoming nuclear missiles. 
 
 Staff answer almost 100,000 phone calls and receive more than 140,000 emails from families around the world. 
 
 Father Christmas started his journey at 0900 GMT from his base at the North Pole. According to NORAD, Father Christmas usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west. 
 
 He generally visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia, before heading to Japan, the rest of Asia, Africa, Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico before finishing in Central and South America. 
 
 "But keep in mind, Santa’s route can be affected by weather, so it’s really unpredictable," a NORAD spokesman said. 
 
 "NORAD coordinates with Santa’s Elf launch staff to confirm his launch time, but from that point on, Father Christmas calls the shots. We just track him." 
 
 Norad claim they employ radar and satellites to track the infrared signal given off by Rudolph's nose. 
 
 "NORAD tracks Father Christmas, but only Father Christmas knows his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house," he said. 
 
 "We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep. 
 
 "In most countries, it seems Father Christmas arrives between 9:00pm and midnight on December 24th. If children are still awake when Father Christmas arrives, he moves on to other houses. He returns later … but only when the children are asleep." 
 
 The tradition dates back to 1955 when a Colorado Springs store ran an advertisement encouraging local children to call a special telephone hot line. 
 
 A printing error meant that the phone number for the Director of Operations at Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) was published instead, leading to the centre being inundated by calls from excited youngsters. 
 
 The head of the CONAD, which later became NORAD, instructed his staff to give the children updates on Santa's position and the tradition was born. 
 
 They now offer the service to children around the world via a google earth map, providing the information in seven languages including English, Spanish and Chinese. 
 
 Col. John Bartholf, a commander with the New York Air National Guardsmen from the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) added: "I can assure everyone that EADS will do everything in its power to assist Father Christmas with this critical mission." 
 
 EADS' Sector Operations Control Center (SOCC) will monitor Father Christmas constantly as he delivers toys and gifts. ||||| Santa Claus set records Christmas Eve he raced across the globe on his on his traditional holiday mission. 
 
 FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2010 file photo, volunteers take phone calls and answer emails at the Santa Tracking Operations Center at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo. Santa is already... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2010 file photo, Air Force Lt. Col. David Hanson, of Chicago, takes a phone call from a child in Florida at the Santa Tracking Operations Center at Peterson Air Force Base near... (Associated Press) 
 
 Santa tracking volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado said they fielded about 102,000 telephone queries beginning early Saturday on his progress, breaking the previous mark of 80,000. 
 
 And his NORAD Facebook page recorded about 999,000 "likes," compared with 716,000 a year ago. Twitter followers increased from about 53,000 last year more than 89,000. 
 
 Officials said records set this year were likely generated by people passing the word as well as social media interest. 
 
 "I think what happens is that every year the ones the participated" tells others, Canadian Navy Lt. Al Blondin. "There's word of mouth." 
 
 Volunteers at NORAD Tracks Santa said kids started calling at 4 a.m. Saturday to find out where Santa was. 
 
 "The phones are ringing like crazy," Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis said Saturday. 
 
 The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955. That was the year a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa on a hotline, but the number had a typo, and dozens of kids wound up talking to the Continental Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor. 
 
 The officers on duty played along and began sharing reports on Santa's progress. It's now a deep-rooted tradition at NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canada command that monitors the North American skies and seas from a control center at Peterson. 
 
 First lady Michelle Obama was among the volunteers for a second year in a row. She took about 10 calls from her family's holiday vacation in Hawaii. Lewis said Obama's voice didn't throw any of the phoning children. 
 
 "They all just asked run-of-the-mill stuff. They wanted to know about Santa," Lewis said. 
 
 After visiting many nations, Santa's first stop in the U.S. came at 9:02 p.m. MST in Atlanta. Blondin said. 
 
 The NORAD website said Santa then set a generally westward course, making numerous stops including Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco. He later passed through Hawaii and Alaska before setting his home course for the North Pole. 
 
 In addition to NORAD's Santa website and Facebook and Twitter pages, Santa this year has a new tracking app for smart phones. The app includes the Elf Toss, a game similar to Angry Birds. Blondin said there had been more than 700,000 downloads. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.noradsanta.org
– After five years of tracking Saint Nick, Google and NORAD are going their separate ways. The North American Aerospace Defense Command announced this week that it was now working with Microsoft Bing to follow Santa's worldwide progress, the Guardian reports. Google has launched its own "Santa tracker" including games and personalized calls from Saint Nick to children. But NORAD's tracking system will be no slouch, with data on Santa's elevation, photos of his journey, weather, and Wikipedia information on his various stops. And NORAD will offer updates on Santa's trip via Twitter and YouTube. Twenty-five million people will likely use NORAD's tracker this year via Bing Maps and apps for Windows 8, Windows Phones, and Android phones, reports Business Insider. NORAD began tracking Santa when a misprint in a 1955 department store ad led a child to call the agency for information on Santa's latest stop. The NORAD employee who took the call made sure to answer, and the agency has maintained the tradition ever since.