Unicode Cherokee Chart Font Updated

The Unicode Consortium has recently updated the current code charts for the Cherokee script specifically to provide improved reference glyphs for the lowercase letters introduced in Version 8.0. The new font is Phoreus Cherokee, a modern digital design by Mark Jamra of TypeCulture® LLC.

The new charts can be viewed through the current Charts page.

New Character Property for Prepended Concatenation Marks

The Unicode Technical Committee is seeking feedback on a proposal to define a new character property for the class of prepended concatenation marks, also referred to as prefixed format control characters or, more generically, as subtending marks. Characters in that class include U+0600 ARABIC NUMBER SIGN and U+06DD ARABIC END OF AYAH. The new property, named Prepended_Concatenation_Mark and targeted for Unicode 9.0, would provide a mechanism to handle subtending marks collectively via properties rather than by hardcoded enumeration. A detailed description of the issue and how to provide feedback are given in Public Review Issue #310.

New version of UTR #50, Unicode Vertical Text Layout released

A new revision of UTR #50, Unicode Vertical Text Layout, has been released. The data tables have been updated to the character repertoire of Unicode Version 8.0.

Unicode 8.0 Paperback Available

The Unicode 8.0 core specification is now available in paperback book form.

Responding to continued interest, the editorial committee has created a pair of modestly priced print-on-demand volumes that contain the complete text of the core specification of Version 8.0 of the Unicode Standard.

This edition is the 6×9 inch US trade paperback size, making the two volumes compact. The two volumes may be purchased separately or together. The cost for the pair is US $16.49, plus postage and applicable taxes. Please visit the description page to order.

Note that these volumes do not include the Version 8.0 code charts, nor do they include the Version 8.0 Standard Annexes and Unicode Character Database, all of which are available only on the Unicode website.

Purchase The Unicode Standard, Version 8.0 - Core Specification

Unicode Board of Directors Election Results

The Unicode Consortium announces the election of four Directors for a three-year term beginning January 2016:

• Bob Jung of Google
• Alolita Sharma of Twitter
• Greg Welch of Intel
• Dachuan Zhang of Microsoft

Alolita Sharma joins the Consortium Board of Directors for the first time. Bob Jung, Greg Welch, and Dachuan Zhang have been re-elected to continue their service as Directors.

Unicode 9.0 Candidate Characters

The Unicode Consortium has accepted 7 new emoji characters as candidates for Unicode 9.0, scheduled for release in mid-2016. This makes a total of 74 emoji candidates. These join thousands of non-emoji candidate characters for Unicode 9.0.

At this point, the characters for Unicode 9.0 are candidates—not yet finalized—so some may be removed from the candidate list, and others may be added. Names, images, and code points may also change, so these candidates are not yet ready for use in production systems. The additions of emoji characters to Unicode are based on the emoji selection factors. Other prospective emoji characters are still being assessed and could be approved as candidates in the future.

There is also a new version of UTR #51, Unicode Emoji, which provides design guidelines and data for improving emoji interoperability across platforms, and gives background information about emoji symbols. Aside from general clarifications in the text, several annexes are moved to separate pages to allow for faster updates, the level distinction among emoji is removed, and certain characters no longer allow for emoji modifiers for skin-tone. These changes are also reflected in new machine-readable emoji data files for implementations.

The emoji charts have also been updated. These include a full listing of emoji characters (with images from various vendors), the default ordering of emoji, annotations, when various emoji were added to Unicode, and more.