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Twitter tests four new emoji Tweet reactions alongside 'Like'
Twitter network might be finally expanding from just "Likes" as it's testing four other reactions in a limited test.
Android 12's emoji include a 'universal' pie and a happier mask wearer
Google has unveiled its emoji updates for Android 12, including a 'universal' pie — and it'll be easier to use emoji in apps, too.
Here are the emoji finalists for Unicode 14.0
Once the Unicode Consortium decides on a final candidate list in September, the finalists will make their way to your devices starting in late 2021 and throughout 2022.
Clippy will return as an emoji in some Microsoft apps
Twenty years after being unceremoniously dumped from Microsoft Office, Clippy is ready to make a triumphant return.
Messenger chats are about to get more annoying thanks to Soundmojis
Facebook reckons emoji with sound is something people want. 🙄
This browser game shows the limits of AI emotion recognition software
As you play the game, what you’ll notice is that it’s easy to fool the software. You can fake a smile to trick it into thinking that you’re happy. Ultimately, that’s the point of the experience.
Twitter surveys users about Facebook-style emoji reactions
Some Twitter users are getting surveys asking them to pick between several different emoji reaction sets.
Gmail’s web client can’t handle inclusive emojis properly
It seems the Gmail team hasn’t gotten around to updating how the web client handles translating emojis.
Cornell researchers created an earphone that can track facial expressions
The team says C-Face works even when the subject is wearing a mask.
More inclusive emoji will come to iPhones in iOS 14.2
The new icons have been revealed in the latest iOS beta, and include ninjas, roaches and the transgender flag.
Minor emoji update for 2021 adds 200 skintone variants for couples
The Unicode Consortium has unveiled a relatively minor emoji update that would still add 217 options to your selection next year. The rest is made up of new skintone grouping variants for the “couple with heart” and “couple kissing” emoji. The Consortium had to push back its annual Unicode Standard release by six months due to COVID-19: Unicode 14.0, which was supposed to come out in March 2021, will now be released in September.
Google is beta testing a new emoji shortcut bar for Android
The new feature will let you quickly tack on ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ to try and make up for ruining a persons day. Or drop a when it's time for another Zoom happy hour, without having to open a separate emoji keyboard. Sure, it might sound minor, but considering just how reliant we've become on picture-based communication, any shortcut is a huge help.
Microsoft's new Teams features fight video conferencing fatigue
Despite recent pressure from the White House, schools and businesses across the country are unlikely to resume in-person functions for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft hopes to help attendees of online meetings feel more connected to everyone else on the call using AI-driven processes. Doing so reportedly helps people focus on the nonverbal cues of the other folks on the call.
Facebook users in the US can create custom avatars starting today
Facebook users in the US can now create custom emojis called Facebook Avatars.
Next year's emoji update will be delayed by six months
The Unicode Consortium will delay the rollout of new emoji in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the meantime, it's considering a smaller update to the current set that combines existing characters,
Gboard for Android combines old emoji to create new ones
Google has launched a new feature for Gboard on Android, which uses existing emoji as ingredients to create new stickers. The tech giant aptly calls it Emoji Kitchen, and it's rolling out to Android users starting today. Unfortunately, you can't create your own recipes to fuse any two expressions you want -- you'll just have to hope that one of the designers who worked on the project thought of what you have in mind.
Ford’s biking jacket shows emoji to everyone behind you
While the number of traffic accident fatalities in the US is thankfully decreasing, there were more cyclist and pedestrian deaths on the roads in 2018, the most recent year for which NHTSA data is available. There were 51 more cyclist deaths that year than in 2017, a rise of 6.3 percent. A recent European Transport Safety Council report, meanwhile, determined that 19,450 cyclists died on EU roads between 2010 and 2018.
Your emoji selection will become more gender-inclusive this year
The Unicode Consortium has revealed 117 new emoji for 2020, and they'll make your emoji arsenal more inclusive than ever. Some of the upcoming additions have the potential to make conversations with friends more fun, such as the smiling face with a single tear and the hand with pinched fingers known as the "Italian hand gesture." This batch also adds new skintone and gender-inclusive options for existing emoji, such as the veil, the tuxedo and the feeding baby emoji. At the moment, those emoji only portrays a woman, a man and a woman, respectively.
A Vermont bill would bring emoji license plates to the US
With their ability to add a dash of color and whimsy to a text message, emoji have become an indispensable part of our online interactions. Thanks to a new piece of proposed legislation introduced last week in the Vermont House of Representatives, they could soon start making state license plates more colorful as well.
Recommended Reading: Facial recognition, police and privacy
The secretive company that might end privacy as we know it Kashmir Hill, The New York Times Clearview is a startup that developed a facial recognition system that matches a photo of a person to publicly available images. Those can be from Facebook, YouTube or even Venmo. It's powerful technology, and law enforcement is using it to solve crimes like shoplifting, murder and child sexual exploitation. The code in Clearview's app references the ability to pair the software with AR glasses, giving the person wearing them the ability to identify whoever they see. And the company is monitoring who law enforcement is looking for, which makes an already massive privacy issue sound like something out of a dystopian novel.