Range of special text messaging symbols grows

The range of special text messaging symbols - emojis for those in the know - has grown by 250 symbols, including the fan-pleasing Vulcan greeting from Star Trek and the slightly less decorous extended middle finger for your less close acquaintances. The additions to the list of symbols you can use to express emotions in digital communication were decided earlier in June by the Unicode Consortium, which regulates such things globally.
They supplement the nearly ubiquitous smiley as options to pep up greetings and messages. However, it will be a while until people will be able to integrate the new symbols into everyday communication. Platform providers like Microsoft, Apple and Google must now integrate the new symbols into their operating systems.