For World Emoji Day, Apple and Google release new emojis: sloth, yawning, diverse couples

For World Emoji(ēˈmōjē) Day, Apple and Google release new emojis: sloth(släTH,slôTH,slōTH), yawning(yôn), diverse(diˈvərs,dī-) couples(ˈkəpəl)

By Michelle Chapman(ˈCHapmən)

Apple and Google are rolling out dozens(ˈdəzən) of new emojis that include cute(kyo͞ot) critters(ˈkridər), of course, but also expand(ikˈspand) the number of images of human diversity(dəˈvərsədē, dīˈvərsədē).

The announcement(əˈnounsmənt) coincides(ˈkōənˌsīd,ˌkōənˈsīd) with Wednesday’s World Emoji Day.

Apple is releasing new variants(ˈve(ə)rēənt) of its holding hands emoji that allow people to pick any combination of skin tone(tōn) and gender, 75 possible combinations in all. There are also wheelchairs(ˈ(h)wēlˌCHe(ə)r), prosthetic(präsˈTHedik) arms and legs, as well as a new guide dog and an ear with a hearing aid(ād).

And then there’s the sloth, the flamingo(fləˈmiNGgō), the skunk(skəNGk), the orangutan(əˈraNG(g)əˌtan), as well as a new yawning emoji.

Google, meanwhile, will offer 71 versions of couples with different skin tones once the additions(əˈdiSHən) are completed. Google is also adding an emoji for the Diya lamp(lamp) so that Diwali(dēˈwälē) can be celebrated alongside Christmas and Thanksgiving.

New emojis routinely(ro͞oˈtēnlē) pop up every year. Earlier this year the Unicode(ˈyo͞onəˌkōd) Consortium(kənˈsôrdēəm, kənˈsôrSH(ē)əm) approved 71 new variations(ˌve(ə)rēˈāSHən) of emoji for couples of color.

Anyone can propose(prəˈpōz) an emoji. But for it to make it to phones and computers, it has to be approved by Unicode. The nonprofit(ˈnänˈpräfit) group, mostly made up of people from large tech(tek) companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, translates emoji into one standard, so that a person in France, for example, can send an emoji or a text(tekst) message to a person in the U.S. and it will look the same, no matter what brand of phone or operating system they use.

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-new-emoji-for-world-emoji-day-20190717-6nfesssuijdfhfm6rgh2wmm3nu-story.html