Unicode 12.0 Beta Review

The beta review period for Unicode 12.0 has started. The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones—plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). The Unicode Standard, its associated standards, and data form the foundation for CLDR and ICU releases. Thus it is important to ensure a smooth transition to each new version of the standard.

Unicode 12.0 includes a number of changes and 554 new characters. Some of the Unicode Standard Annexes have modifications for Unicode 12.0, often in coordination with changes to character properties. In particular, there are minor changes to UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation, to account for differences in Georgian casing behavior. Four new scripts have been added in Unicode 12.0. There are also 61 additional emoji characters, as well as very significant enhancements to the representation and behavior of multiperson emoji.

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by January 7, 2019. Feedback instructions are on the beta page.

See http://unicode.org/versions/beta-12.0.0.html for more information about testing the 12.0.0 beta.

See http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode12.0.0/ for the current draft summary of Unicode 12.0.0.

About the Unicode Consortium

The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to develop, extend and promote use of the Unicode Standard and related globalization standards.

The membership of the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and organizations, many in the computer and information processing industry. Members include: Adobe, Apple, Emojipedia, Facebook, Google, Government of Bangladesh, Government of India, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Monotype Imaging, Netflix, Sultanate of Oman MARA, Oracle, SAP, Shopify, Tamil Virtual University, The University of California (Berkeley), plus well over a hundred Associate, Liaison, and Individual members. For a complete member list go to http://www.unicode.org/consortium/members.html.

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Last Call on Unicode 11.0 Review

The beta review period for Unicode 11.0 and related technical standards will close on April 23, 2018. This is the last opportunity for technical comments before version 11.0 is released in Q2 2018. Implementers and interested parties are encouraged to download data files, review proposed updates, and submit comments.

Unicode 11.0 adds seven new scripts, including Hanifi Rohingya, 66 additional emoji characters, including four new components for hair color (for a total of 157 emoj sequences). The set of Georgian Mtavruli capital letters has been added to support modern casing practices.

• For more information about testing the 11.0 beta, see unicode.org/versions/beta-11.0.0.html
• For the current draft summary of Unicode 11.0, see unicode.org/versions/Unicode11.0.0

In addition to the Unicode core specification, five Unicode Standard Annexes and two Unicode Technical Standards have significant specification and/or data file updates that are correlated with the new additions for Unicode 11.0.0. Review of those changes is strongly encouraged during the beta review period.

UAX #14, Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm

• Uses Extended_Pictographic property for future-proofing

UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation

• New support for Indic virama handling
• Uses Extended_Pictographic property for future-proofing
• A new table of formal regex definitions

UAX #31, Unicode Identifier and Pattern Syntax

• Refines the use of ZWJ in identifiers
• Broadens the definition of hashtag identifiers

UAX #38, Unicode Han Database (Unihan)

• Five new fields and improved regular expressions.
• Document extension of Unihan properties to non-Unihan

UAX #44, Unicode Character Database

• New property Equivalent_Unified_Ideograph
• New regular expressions Bidi_Paired_Bracket & Equivalent_Unified_Ideograph
• More discussion of emoji variation sequences
• Clarification of values allowed for the Age property

UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm

• Updates data to Unicode 11.0
• Clarification of search tailoring in visual-order scripts

UTS #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms

• Updates data to Unicode 11.0
• Enhances discussions of joining controls & combining sequences

UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing

• Updates data to Unicode 11.0
• Changes the format of the test file for arbitrary input settings
• Updates input setting for Transitional_Processing

UTS #51, Unicode Emoji

• Supplies Extended_Pictographic property for future-proofing
• Simplifies emoji sequence definitions
• EBNF and Regex expressions for loose matches
• More proposed guidelines: gender-neutral emoji, skin-tone modifiers, ZWJ visible fallbacks, hair-style components
• Mechanism for changing the “facing” direction for emoji

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by April 23, 2018. Feedback instructions are in each public review page. For more information, see the open public review issues.

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Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Unicode 11.0 Beta Review

The beta review period for Unicode 11.0 has started. The Unicode Standard is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones—plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). The Unicode Standard, its associated standards, and data form the foundation for CLDR and ICU releases. Thus it is important to ensure a smooth transition to each new version of the standard.

Unicode 11.0 includes a number of changes. Some of the Unicode Standard Annexes have modifications for Unicode 11.0, often in coordination with changes to character properties. In particular, there are major changes to UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation. Seven new scripts have been added in Unicode 11.0, including Hanifi Rohingya. A major adjustment has been made to the Georgian script, with the introduction of uppercase Georgian letters. There are also 66 additional emoji characters.

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by April 23, 2018. Feedback instructions are on the beta page.

See http://unicode.org/versions/beta-11.0.0.html for more information about testing the 11.0.0 beta.

See http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode11.0.0/ for the current draft summary of Unicode 11.0.0.

About the Unicode Consortium

The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to develop, extend and promote use of the Unicode Standard and related globalization standards.

The membership of the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and organizations, many in the computer and information processing industry. Members include: Adobe, Apple, Emojipedia, Facebook, Google, Government of Bangladesh, Government of India, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Monotype Imaging, Netflix, Sultanate of Oman MARA, Oracle, SAP, Shopify, Symantec, Tamil Virtual University, The University of California (Berkeley), plus well over a hundred Associate, Liaison, and Individual members. For a complete member list go to http://www.unicode.org/consortium/members.html.

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Unicode Emoji 11.0 Beta

Emoji 11.0 beta is now available for developers, with 130 Draft Candidates, such as:

The list is not final: changes can include removals or additions: for example, new ZWJ sequences could be added. The decisions of the 2017Q4 UTC meeting for emoji have been incorporated into the draft Charts, Specification, and Data, and are now available for testing and feedback. The contents will be finalized in 2018Q1. The following are the expected dates for 2018.

Emoji Set	Decision date	Announcement of final list	Market availability
Draft Emoji Candidates (2018)	2018-01	2018-03	2018H2

The version number for the next release of Unicode emoji is jumping from the previously-released Emoji 5.0 to Emoji 11.0 (instead of 6.0). This is due to alignment of the emoji versions in 2018 and beyond with the versions of the Unicode Standard.

The draft emoji 11.0β Charts now show the candidates in context: for example, Emoji Ordering, v11.0β shows the sorting of all the emoji, with the candidates highlighted with rounded-rectangles. Feedback on the sort-order, categories, names, and keywords is welcome.

The draft 11.0β Specification has a number of changes, including proposed guidelines for display, handling gender, handling skin tone, and a proposed mechanism for allowing emoji to point either to the right or left.

The draft 11.0β Emoji Data provides property data, which determines how implementations handle the new characters.

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Unicode 9.0 Beta Review

Mountain View, CA, USA – The Unicode® Consortium today announced the start of the beta review for the forthcoming Unicode 9.0.0, which is scheduled for release in June, 2016. All beta feedback must be submitted by May 2, 2016.

Unicode is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, laptops, and smart phones – plus the Internet and Web (URLs, HTML, XML, CSS, JSON, etc.). Thus it is important to ensure a smooth transition to each new version of the Unicode Standard.

Unicode 9.0.0 comprises several additions and changes which require careful migration in implementations. These include asymmetric case mappings, numerous variation sequences, new fractional numeric values, and changes to property values, especially East_Asian_Width values. The line breaking and text segmentation algorithms handle character sequences that represent emoji as indivisible units via the addition of new property values and rules. Implementers need to modify code and check assumptions for all affected processes to support these additions and changes.

The new character repertoire includes 74 emoji symbols, 19 symbols used in Japanese TV broadcasting, and multiple additions to existing scripts. There are six new scripts, of which three are in modern use (Adlam, Osage, and Newa) and three are historic (Bhaiksuki, Marchen, and Tangut). Adlam and Osage have case pairs and require data updates for casing functions. Tangut is a large ideographic script whose addition incurred changes to the Unicode Collation Algorithm (used as the basis for sorting text in all languages).

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by May 2, 2016. Feedback instructions are on the beta page.

See http://unicode.org/versions/beta-9.0.0.html for more information about testing the 9.0.0 beta.

See http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode9.0.0/ for the current draft summary of Unicode 9.0.0.

About the Unicode Consortium

The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to develop, extend and promote use of the Unicode Standard and related globalization standards. The membership of the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and organizations, many in the computer and information processing industry. Members include: Adobe, Apple, Emoji One, EmojiXpress, Facebook, Google, Government of Bangladesh, Government of India, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Monotype Imaging, Sultanate of Oman MARA, Oracle, SAP, Tamil Virtual University, The University of California (Berkeley), Yahoo!, plus well over a hundred Associate, Liaison, and Individual members. For more information, please contact the Unicode Consortium http://www.unicode.org/contacts.html.

Unicode 8.0 Beta Review

Mountain View, CA, USA – The Unicode® Consortium today announced the start of the beta review for the forthcoming Unicode 8.0.0, which is scheduled for release in June, 2015. All beta feedback must be submitted by April 27, 2015.
Unicode is the foundation for all modern software and communications around the world, including all modern operating systems, browsers, and smart phones; modern web protocols (HTML, XML, ...); and internationalized domain names. Thus it is important to ensure a smooth transition to each new version of the Unicode Standard.

Unicode 8.0.0 comprises several changes which require careful migration in implementations, including the conversion of Cherokee to a bicameral script, a different encoding model for New Tai Lue, and additional character repertoire. Implementers need to change code and check assumptions regarding case mappings, New Tai Lue syllables, Han character ranges, and confusables. Character additions in Unicode 8.0.0 include emoji symbol modifiers for implementing skin tone diversity, other emoji symbols, a large collection of CJK unified ideographs, a new currency sign for the Georgian lari, and six new scripts. For more information on emoji in Unicode 8.0.0, see the associated draft Unicode Emoji report.

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by April 27, 2015. Feedback instructions are on the beta page.

• See http://unicode.org/versions/beta-8.0.0.html for more information about testing the 8.0.0 beta.
• See http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode8.0.0/ for the current draft summary of Unicode 8.0.0.

About the Unicode Consortium

The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to develop, extend and promote use of the Unicode Standard and related globalization standards. The membership of the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and organizations in the computer and information processing industry. Members are: Adobe Systems, Apple, Google, Government of Bangladesh, Government of India, IBM, Microsoft, Monotype Imaging, Sultanate of Oman MARA, Oracle, SAP, Tamil Virtual University, The University of California (Berkeley), Yahoo!, plus well over a hundred Associate, Liaison, and Individual members.

For more information, please contact the Unicode Consortium http://www.unicode.org/contacts.html.