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Facepalm, selfie and shrug emoji are on the way
The annual additions to Unicode emoji library have been approved, which means 72 new tiny pictures are headed to your phone. When version 9.0 is released in June, selfie, shrug, facepalm, bacon, cucumber, avocado and dozens more new emoji will make the cut. Just in time for the Rio Olympics this summer, a smattering of event-related options and medals will also join the thousands of images that already exist. Even though the new additions will be included in Unicode this month, you'll still have to wait until companies include them in their mobile software. The good news is new versions of Android and iOS are both due this fall.
Facebook intros diverse Messenger emojis for all platforms
Facebook has created brand new emojis for Messenger, redesigned its old ones and standardized them for all operating systems. The social network will begin rolling out 1,500 newly designed emojis tomorrow, which will show up the way you see them on your device no matter the recipient's platform. No more empty boxes taking their place if you're chatting with someone using another OS. Even better, the new graphics embrace diversity -- they include hand gestures and human faces in different skin colors, as well as images of same sex couples.
The bible has been translated into emojis
It was inevitable: The bible has been updated for the 21st century with a new... emoji translation. According to The Guardian, an anonymous translator, who prefers to be identified only by 😎, reworked the King James Version of the bible using unicode emoji, as well as common internet abbreviations and slang. The bible, appropriately titled Scripture 4 Millenials, took six months to complete, and was translated with a program created by Mx. 😎 that matched up 80 distinct emoji with 200 words. If you're curious (or pious) enough and are willing to part with $2.99, you can check out the 3,000-plus page work right now on iTunes.
Google's iOS keyboard is the GIF and emoji app of my dreams
I just deleted the Giphy app from my iPhone. This is notable because I adore GIFs. I find a deep, slightly perverse, pleasure in sending texts full of those little moving pictures to my loved ones, and the Giphy app streamlined my image-hunting process 10-fold. But now, it's gone from my home screen, deleted forever because I found something that makes texting with GIFs even easier. I found Gboard.
Google puts search, GIFs and more inside its new iOS keyboard
Although Google has plenty of iOS apps, switching between them to share directions or perform a web search can be time-consuming. The company knows that the iPhone keyboard is where you spend a lot of your time, so it's decided to launch fresh take on Apple's default option. It's called Gboard and it can search the web, embed GIFs, locate the perfect emoji and grab weather reports. It will also help send restaurant information, flight times and news articles to friends and family. "Anything you'd search on Google, you can search with Gboard," says Rajan Patel, Principal Engineer at Google.
Google wants emoji that give working women their due
Take a look at your phone's emoji list. Notice how the only people representing jobs (such as police officers and construction workers) are men, while women are limited to brides and princesses? Some Google developers aren't happy with that one-sided state of affairs. They've proposed a new set of Unicode emoji that better represent women in professional roles. Their 13 new emoji would show both men and women in very well-known industries, ranging from tech (our favorite) to farming to rock stars. They hope that this gives young women a subtle confidence boost -- if it's no big deal to use the emoji for a female software engineer, there won't be as much of a stigma around becoming a software engineer.
One-handed typing is a reality on the stock Android keyboard
Competition is good for everybody. Case in point: Google recently dropped a massive update for the stock Android keyboard that brings in a ton of new features that we've seen from the likes of the now-Microsoft-owned SwiftKey and the Redmond company's multiplatform Word Flow apps. For starters, there's a one-handed mode and quicker access to the number pad and emoji. If you'd rather have a taller keyboard for your phablet now, that's an option as well, in addition to finally having an option for borders on individual keys.
Snapchat stickers can now move around in your videos
One of Snapchat's defining features is the ability to add text, emoji and colorful scribbles to your photos and videos. Before, these would sit statically on the screen, but now stickers can move in tandem with any object or person in the frame. Once you've shot your video, you'll be able to add some colorful emoji and pair them with specific parts of the recording. Snapchat will handle the rest, making the stickers move, rotate and change size. As way of example, this could mean having a bicycle shoot down the street alongside a car, or putting a guitar in your best friend's hands.
Facebook officially expands beyond the Like with Reactions
While the "Like" button on Facebook has traditionally been a quick and fun way to respond to a post, the truth is that it's not always appropriate. "Liking" certain posts -- say, the news of a pet's death or a post about global warming -- just feels wrong. Thankfully, starting today, that's about to change. The social network has just announced a brand new feature called Reactions (which we've already heard about a few times), which is essentially an extension of the Like button. Now, in addition to the thumbs-up Like we're all familiar with, there's Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry. Love is signified by a heart symbol while the rest are animated emoji.
Paul McCartney wrote tiny songs for Skype's new animated emojis
Last fall, Skype took the emoji and sticker craze and ran with it, introducing a new animated emoticon the company simply called the "Moji." It's basically an animation coupled with an audio clip, and they launched with big content properties like The Muppets and Jurassic Park. Now, to go along with Valentine's day, Skype has a new set of 10 Moji it designed to convey the feelings of the holiday in a bunch of silly / cute ways.
Dear Veronica: Do you have a minute for beats?
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-977411{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-977411, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-977411{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-977411").style.display="none";}catch(e){} This week on the show, we get super music-nerdy with producer and composer Justin Lassen, coming to us from the floor at NAMM. He explains to us how music software figures out BPM (beat per minute) in songs and samples. Having worked with some incredible musicians (and creating some amazing works of his own) Justin knows and thing or two about the process! I also help a listener find his true passion for podcasting, and uncover the sordid history of the smiling poop emoji! Actually, that would be a great podcast right there... 💩
Researchers propose using patterns and icons for passwords
Researchers at Plymouth University have devised a new password input method they believe could improve security. Called GOTPass, it combines patterns, imagery, and one-time passcode to create a system that it's hoped would be both more secure and easier to remember than traditional passwords.
Kim Kardashian cashes in with her own emoji app
If you know someone who lives vicariously through Kim Kardashian West's life of endless photo ops and reality TV shows, brace yourself: you're about to get an eyeful of her in your phone chats. She just released Kimoji, an app that (surprise) gives you over 250 Kim-related emoji and stickers for your messaging apps. There's even a keyboard, in case you need to slip that "break the internet" magazine cover into a conversation.
Twitter's website supports all the new emoji
Twitter now supports all the new variations of emoji for Unicode 8 (the version found in iOS 9.1) on Twitter.com. So if you're tired of giving a thumbs up with a finger that more resembles Bart Simpson than your own, now you can share your pictographs with a skin color that doesn't look like it has jaundice. Tacos, burritos and unicorn pictures are also included, and according to Twitter, will even work when tweets are embedded elsewhere -- you can test that promise out right here.
Android's new emoji arrive next week on Nexus devices
Android head Hiroshi Lockheimer said new emoji were on the way, and now they're right around the corner. The Google exec revealed that next week Nexus devices will be updated with the new taco, unicorn and lion face emoji that are part of the Unicode 8.0 standard. The change will require a "new keyboard, new font, new code" so it means a full system upgrade is on the way (as far as any other changes, Lockheimer is declining to "ruin the surprise"). If you don't have a Nexus phone, you'll have to wait for your manufacturer to push the upgrade... eventually. No matter how long that takes, emoji addicts will be happy to see Android picking up the pace on its Unicode support, following Apple which added the latest standard to iOS 9.1 and OS X El Capitan.
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."
ICYMI: Long distance loving, NASA's ice news and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-796087{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-796087, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-796087{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-796087").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: NASA scientists are tracking sea ice and say the Antarctic mass is larger than we've ever seen since satellite tracking began in the 70's. Sadly, it's still growing at a much slower rate than the Arctic's ice is shrinking. Fire fans can get their hands on a Pyro Mini device from Ellusionist, to launch fireballs from their hands like the true magicians they long to be. And we're making fun of a pair of devices because why not. The Pillow Talk is a Kickstarter that pairs an under-the-pillow speaker with a wristband to broadcast the sound of your heartbeat to your long-distance love. Meanwhile the TSTAND is a hands-free tablet stand that would let you lie flat and not have to hold a tablet at an uncomfortable angle. We recommend using them together for maximum nerd.
Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year is... an emoji
Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year is as much about capturing the cultural zeitgeist as it is reflecting the evolution of the English language, and that's truer than ever in 2015. For the first time ever, the institution chose emoji (the "tears of joy" icon you see above) to win the honor -- yes, actual words lost out. It's an odd decision, to put it mildly, but Oxford notes that the use of the word "emoji" more than tripled in the space of the past year, and the tears image was the most popular emoji worldwide.
Twitter tests emoji reactions for the times a heart won't do
Still bummed that tapping a heart is the only way to show your appreciation, sadness or any other reaction for a tweet? Well, that may change. Twitter user @_Ninji stumbled across emoji reactions in a jailbroken version of the social media app. Despite being included in the developer build, the feature still needs a lot of work, but it does allow users to employ the frown, party noisemaker and 100 emjois (just to name a few) to get their point across. The discovery comes right on the heels of Twitter swapping stars out for hearts when a tweet is favorited, much to the chagrin of most of the internet. Facebook recently added animated options for more appropriate reactions than a simple Like as well. Since the Twitter emojis appear to be a long way from finished, we'd surmise we'll hear more about the tiny pictures in tweets soon enough. Here's to hoping the taco and poop emoji make the cut. We've reached out to Twitter for more information, and we were sent the monkey with its hands over its mouth emoji.
Here's a physical emoji keyboard that costs $100
Emoji are now deeply embedded in our collective psyche, and yet, they're always out of reach. On your phone, they're hidden behind at least a single tap, and on your Mac or PC, they're obfuscated further, often inside an archaic symbol or special character menu. EmojiWorks aims to fix that with a full QWERTY keyboard that doubles as an emoji machine. It's not the first attempt at an emoji keyboard by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an all-in-one solution that you can actually buy.
