Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 19-07-2017
US tech giant Apple has previewed forthcoming emoji’s, including one that depicts a woman wearing a hijab.
More than 12 animated symbols were unveiled on Monday to celebrate World Emoji Day and will be released on Apple devices later this year.
In a statement Apple says the new Emoji will make it easier for users to express themselves with greater diversity, additional animals and creatures, new smiley faces and more.
????? Happy #WorldEmojiDay! ? We’ve got some ? new ones to show you, coming later this year! ?? https://t.co/xBR9ZJ7l4g pic.twitter.com/fhDrr4J5KG
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 17, 2017
Al Jazeera reports the headscarf-wearing character was approved by Unicode, a non-profit international consortium, in November last year after a Saudi teen living in Germany campaigned for its inclusion.
Fifteen-year-old Rayouf Alhumedhi submitted a proposal to Unicode in September 2016, pointing out that there was no image that represented her.
Her online campaign, the Hijab Emoji Project, noted that some Christian and Jewish women also wear headscarves, along with hundreds of millions of Muslims.
Apple’s preview of the hijab emoji sparked some negative reaction online, with one Twitter user calling it a sign of “creeping Sharia” law.
Other new symbols include a woman breastfeeding and a man meditating in what appears to be the traditional yoga lotus pose.
Apple also revealed less political inclusions such a dinosaur, zebra, elf, zombie, genie, sandwich and coconut emoji.
What Apple unveiled Monday was its interpretation of several characters that will be available for its smartphones, watches and laptops in the coming months.
People in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, UK, Spain, France, Italy and Germany are among the world’s biggest emoji-users on Facebook.
Apple says that 5 billion emoji’s are sent worldwide via Facebook Messenger each day.
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