The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

New emojis include different hairstyles, animals and more

- By Najja Parker najja.parker@coxinc.com

Your emoji keyboard will soon get a little larger, because Unicode Consortium has just unveiled a slew of new icons for the upcoming year.

The company, which is the gatekeeper for emojis, made the announceme­nt late last week in a blog post, revealing that a total of 157 new emojis for the 11.0 series will arrive on phones between August and September.

They include a variety of new human emojis with different skin tones and hairstyles. Users will be able to choose between red tresses, curls and even bald ‘dos. The brand is also introducin­g men and women superheros and villains with varying skin tones. The characters, however, aren’t as specific as Black Panther or Spider-Man.

Wondering about the animal options? A mosquito, parrot, peacock, kangaroo and swan, among several others, have also been added. New clothing and activities, like a softball and flat shoes, will be featured, too.

The emojis are just samples. Tech vendors are allowed to make changes to fit the overall theme of products. For example, Google altered the cheeseburg­er emoji in 2017, placing the cheese on top of the bottom bun instead of on the burger. After a flood of complaints, the corporatio­n switched it back.

Unicode is accepting proposals for the 12.0 series, which is expected to drop next year. The deadline for submission­s is at the end of May.

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