emoji
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Apple will engrave emoji on your AirPods case for free
Apple is expanding the free engraving options on AirPods cases to include emoji. The selection is fairly limited, ranging from a few faces (such as my personal favorite, the grimace) through to heart and star symbols. You can also have a ghost, robot, alien, skull, hand gesture (but no middle finger) or an animal emoji adorning your AirPods case.
Samsung update brings Watch Active2 features to earlier Watch models
Thinking about upgrading your Samsung Galaxy Watch to a Galaxy Watch Active2? You might want to hold off for now, as Samsung is rolling out an update that'll bring enhanced features to earlier-generation watches. This means that the Galaxy Watch and Watch Active will get the same user experience functionality found on their successor, the Watch Active2, including new health and Bixby features, as well as boosted customization options.
Twitter will test auto-emojis to stop you from dunk-tweeting
Twitter wants us to be a bit more mindful of the way we use quote tweets, replies and retweets. In a bid to mitigate some of the problems these tools can cause -- pile-ons, ratio, dunking and so on -- it's revealed it's planning a couple of experiments in the coming weeks, designed to help us reflect more carefully on how we use the platform.
Apple removes Taiwan flag emoji from iOS in Hong Kong
Apple appears to have removed the Taiwan flag from the emoji keyboard of users that have their iOS region set to Hong Kong or Macau, according to a number of local websites, including Hiraku. The change, implemented via a software update, comes not long after the company released its iOS 13 operating system, and highlights the complicated relationship that Apple -- and indeed many American companies -- have with China.
Apple and Google show off their more inclusive emoji for 2019
The Unicode Consortium teased the next round of emoji additions for 2019, and now it's clear just what they'll look like when they reach your phone. Both Apple and Google are marking World Emoji Day (July 17th) by showing their adaptations of the dozens of emoji characters coming to their platforms later in the year -- you can find a few of Apple's examples above, and Google's below. In both cases, the focuses are on inclusivity and a bit of whimsy.
Xiaomi subtly clones Apple's Memoji with 'Mimoji'
Xiaomi has a long history of shadowing Apple's moves, and that now includes one of its cutesier inventions: Memoji. As part of the launch of its CC9 phone series, Xiaomi has introduced human "Mimoji" (it previously had animals) that are a not-so-subtle riff on Apple's 3D avatars. While Apple doesn't have a lock on the concept -- ask Samsung -- the art style is uncannily close, right down to the giant eyes and tiny tongues. It's just a matter of different hat and hair styles.
Giphy adds animated emoji and text to its apps
Giphy is moving past just GIFs and getting into the business of everything animated. Starting today, the company is rolling out two new formats: Giphy Emoji and Giphy Text. The new features expand upon the company's huge reservoir of GIFs by adding new collections of animated emoji and text stickers that can be shared across conversations. Both features will be available through the Giphy app for iOS and Android starting today, as well as the Giphy Keyboard available for both operating systems. The company plans to open the features up to developers in the near future.
Google will roll out ambiguously gendered emoji to Android Q
The variety of emoji has skyrocketed from 176 since the initial release of the symbols back in 1999, to more than 3,000 today. During that time they've steadily become more inclusive, expanding to feature same sex couples, redheads, female scientists and people of every skin tone. Now, Google is adding 53 gender ambiguous characters, according to Fast Company.
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.
Microsoft’s new experimental app is all about imitating emojis
Microsoft has released a new app that aims to demonstrate how its Windows Machine Learning APIs can be used to build apps and "make machine learning fun and approachable." Emoji8 is a UWP app that uses machine learning to determine how well you can imitate emojis. As you make your best efforts to imitate a random selection of emojis in front of your webcam, Emoji8 will evaluate your attempts locally using the FER+ Emotion Recognition model, a neural network for recognizing emotion in faces. You'll then be able to tweet a gif of your top scoring images.
Google adds GIF and emoji recommendations to Gboard
Users of Gboard are about to see their keyboard get a lot smarter. Google announced that its first-party keyobard will use artificial intelligence to recommend GIFs, emoji and stickers based on the context of the conversation you're having. The new suggestion feature will start rolling out today for English speaking users on Android, with more languages to come in the future. Google didn't make mention of the feature coming to iOS.
Google Gboard creates emoji-style stickers that look like you
Emoji are more expressive than ever, but the odds are that you'll never be completely represented no matter how many new characters there are. Google, however, has a simple solution: create your own emoji. It's expanding Gboard's Minis with stickers that recreate your face in a range of emoji-style expressions. If you dye your hair, pierce your nose or wear a stylish hat, you can share that look when you send someone a "hug" or "yum."
Apple will release iOS 12.1 with Group FaceTime tomorrow
You won't have to wait until Apple's big iPad event to find out when iOS 12.1 will arrive. Apple has confirmed that the update will be available on October 30th (the day of the event) for all existing iOS 12-compatible devices. For most, the highlight will be the delayed Group FaceTime feature -- up to 32 people can chat at once, complete with a system that surfaces video based on who's speaking. You'll also be happy if you're an emoji fan, since Apple is adding more than 70 characters that include more hairstyles, animals and food.
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.
Apple will add more than 70 new emojis to iOS 12.1
Apple announced that it will release more than 70 new emojis with iOS 12.1, including characters with additional hair options, more animals and a handful of new sports-related items. The company previewed some of what was to come back in July, sharing that a kangaroo, a lobster, a cupcake and a mango were on the docket as well as a moon cake, a nazar amulet and superheroes.
Instagram's emoji shortcuts help you comment in record time
If you can't post comments without tossing in at least one emoji to make your feelings clear, you'll be glad to know that Instagram has your back. After months of testing, Instagram has introduced an emoji shortcut bar on Android and iOS that offers quick access to your most-used icons when wading into a post's comments. You won't have to sift through your phone keyboard's emoji selection when you want to heart someone's touching moment or tell them their new look is fire.
'Emojiland' review: Come for the 💩, stay for the 💗
Warning: This review contains mild spoilers. Spending two hours of my life watching emoji deal with existential crises isn't something I ever expected to do. That almost feels fitting considering that the show's creators, Keith and Laura Harrison, never expected they'd have the chance to stage their emoji musical off-Broadway. Emojiland runs through Sunday as part of the New York Musical Festival, and it endeavors to deal with weightier subjects than you might expect from a show in which a woman dressed as a 💩 brings the house down with a brassy, gospel-inspired number in a bathroom stall. But what is it like to actually sit through? Not bad, actually, as long as you're walking in with an open mind.
‘Emojiland’ blends musical theater and existential angst
The thing about musical theatre is that pleasant surprises are never too hard to find. A rock musical about 19th-century German teenagers exploring their sexuality won a Tony. And right now, a man playing a cartoon sponge from Nickelodeon is charming audiences on Broadway. Is it so strange, then, that someone out there decided a musical about emoji needed to happen? Nah.
Google is resurrecting blob emoji again
Fans of Google's now-dead blob emoji have a reason to be happy today. The company announced that it's resurrecting its cute, flatly designed characters, albeit as a sticker pack for Gboard and Android Messages. What's the occasion? Well, it's World Emoji Day, of course. This isn't a direct replacement for the standard circular emoji Google adopted after unceremoniously killing its own version off, but if you're feeling nostalgic for a time before Android O it should do the trick.
Apple’s new emojis will include a superhero and more hair options
Apple announced today that more than 70 new emojis are on the way, including characters with more hair options, new food items and additional animals. Emoji faces will soon have the option of having red hair, will include more gray and curly hairstyles and will also have a bald selection. As for new smiley faces, Apple will be releasing a cold face, party face, pleading face and face with hearts. New animals will include a kangaroo, parrot, lobster and peacock while new food options will include a mango, cupcake, lettuce and moon cake. Also on the docket are more sports emojis, like a softball, as well as superhero characters.
