emojis
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WhatsApp statuses get a big overhaul with voice, emoji reactions and more
WhatsApp has introduced some new updates to Status, the feature introduced in 2017 as an answer to Snapchat or Instagram Stories.
Google Meet adds emoji as a 'non-disruptive' way to react in calls
Google is making Meet more social with a new feature called in-meeting reactions.
WhatsApp now lets you use any emoji as a reaction
WhatsApp launched emoji reactions with six options just a few months ago, but it has just boosted that number to the entire emoji lexicon.
Google's latest Android Messages updates include iOS reactions and YouTube previews
As it previewed last month in a beta, Google has started rolling out a feature for Messages that translates iMessaging "Tapbacks" as emojis.
'Melting face' and 36 other emojis arrive with Apple's iOS 15.4 beta
Following the release of Unicode 14, Apple is finally starting to include the new emojis on iOS with the release of the 15.4 developer beta.
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.
New emoji for 2019 include wheelchairs, waffles and sloths
It's that time of year when the Unicode Consortium decides which new emoji you'll see, and this year's selection of 59 new base emoji (230 if you include all gender and skin variations) is both inclusive and eclectic. To start, Apple's accessibility emoji play a central role: you'll find wheelchairs, guide dogs and deaf people, among other additions. Beyond those, you'll find many different couple combinations based on skin color and gender.
Twitter updates level the playing field for emoji character counts
Twitter announced today on its developer forum that all emojis will count evenly toward the platform's maximum 280 character limit. Before this update, various modifiers such as gender and skin tone caused certain emojis to use up more characters than other emojis.
Telegram's voice calls are secured by emojis
Questions about security have plagued messaging app Telegram recently, since the platform was supposedly cracked by Russia's state security agency during the election. Telegram uses its own security protocols instead of more tried-and-true options, which has been a point of criticism. Now, Telegram is adding voice calls to its offerings, and those calls will be secured by emojis.
48 new emojis are coming to your phone this summer
Near the end of last year, we got word that new emojis were on the way. With that announcement came a list of 51 proposed emojis that would come with the upcoming release of Unicode 10.0. That lineup has been pared down to 48, and as Emojipedia notes, they'll be available to use beginning on June 30th.
Lawmaker: Chile and Texas don't share a flag, y'all
The current roster of emojis includes many national flags, but not state-specific ones. So, left with few other options, people have taken to using the Chilean flag emoji (🇨🇱) to signify Texas pride. This makes sense considering how much the two flags look alike, but one Texas lawmaker has had enough.
Android apps with emoji descriptions get more downloads
With a feature film, touch bar and dedicated search engine, emojis are having a moment. Now, app developer Novoda has done a study showing that they can even convince you to download apps. Using the A/B tool in Google's Developer Console, the team tested three emojis (🚀, 🚮 and 💯) in the short description of the popular CCleaner app from Piriform.
In 2016, emoji kept it 💯
In addition to everything else that happened in tech this year, something small, cute and unassuming wormed its way into your smartphone, your social network and even your MacBook keyboard. While emoji have been around a while, this was the year these pictographs firmly lodged themselves into our lives. It's become less like immature shorthand and more like another language.
ICYMI: Using brain power to move a game character
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: University of Washington researchers were able to use a magnetic coil at the base of test subjects skulls to watch them play a simplified 2D computer game with just the power of their thoughts. Meanwhile UC Berkeley researchers built a small robot called the SALTO that weighs only 100 grams but is based on the jumping abilities of kangaroos. Google just created a bit of fun on its Twitter account, where users can tweet at the search engine with emojis, then get a response from the account show the nearest location for whatever taco or burger you need asap. 'Cause typing into a search bar is passé now, I guess. For your reminder that: Scientists, they're just like us!-- be sure to check out CERN's silly Mannequin Challenge. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
See the Face Palm and 'Harambe' emojis on iOS for the first time
Apple's developer preview of iOS 10.2 offers the first look at a handful of fresh emojis, including Shrug, Avocado, Face Palm, Duck, Fox, Fingers Crossed and Gorilla (AKA Harambe), as spotted by Emojipedia. The preview is available today for registered developers and it also includes the lineup for Emoji 4.0, the overhaul that adds male and female versions of most jobs to the official Unicode rulebook, plus expands skin tone options across the board. The update means male dancers wearing bunny ears and female police officers, for example.
Unicode's next emoji update focuses on gender and jobs
The latest proposed updates to Unicode's emoji rules add a handful of dual-gendered jobs and give basically every human emoji both male and female versions, Emojipedia reports. Those two ladies dancing in bunny ears? Now there's a male version. The policeman's face? Emoji 4.0 adds a female option. The beta of iOS 10 already showcases these changes, despite the fact that Emoji 4.0 is still in draft form for two more months, during which period the public can provide feedback to Unicode.
Unofficial Belgian beer emojis use the appropriate glassware
As craft breweries explode in popularity across the US, more and more people want to express their love of specialty beers in the form of emojis -- rather, emoji. There's just one standard beer emoji (plus a "cheers" emoji that uses the same image) on Android and iOS, even though there are more than 100 styles of beer, some of which are meant to be served in specific ways. Here's where the Belgian Brewer's Association comes in. The group's latest marketing scheme is an iOS and Android emoji board featuring 60 tiny images of Belgian beers, all served in their appropriate glasses.
ICYMI: Smartphone picture printer, AR app for all and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-568631{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-568631, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-568631{width:570px;display:block;}try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-568631").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A case designed to print the pictures that normally just stay on your smartphone is out, just in time for Christmas. Researchers at MIT are doing their best to connect all the smart appliances and gadgets within your home for easy control with a clever app called Reality Editor. And Tokyo's police are forming an anti-drone squad that will use large UAVs with nets to capture smaller drones.
Durex thinks a condom emoji can help promote safe sex
Look, there's already a taco emoji, so it doesn't seem far fetched to have one that represents a condom as well. After all, despite their obvious differences, they both have something in common: pleasure. That's why Durex, a brand of male contraceptives, is hard at work advocating for a condom emoji. "An official safe sex emoji will enable young people to overcome embarrassment around the discussion of safe sex," the company says, adding that it can "encourage conversation and raise awareness of the importance of using condoms in protecting against sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDS."
Tacos, burritos and unicorn emoji are coming, thanks to Unicode 8.0
The Unicode Consortium unveiled its new emoji set as part of the standard's version 8.0 update on Wednesday. Yes, that taco emoji we've all been waiting for on bated breath has arrived and lo, it is glorious. Other food-related icons include taco's big brother, the burrito, as well as a hot dog, popcorn and a cheese wedge. Inedible emoji like a Unicorn head, prayer beads and a volleyball are also available. Surprisingly though, no hotdog pizza emoji just yet -- probably because we're not sure yet if they're ok for human consumption.
