In Apple's latest update, emoji get diverse

NEW YORK (AP) - Lovers of emoji, the cute graphics that punctuate online writing and texts, will soon be able to pick from different skin tones.

IPhone and iPad maker Apple Inc. has incorporated more diverse emoji into the developer version of the latest update to its mobile operating system. It has not said when the update will be available for all users.

Currently almost all the emojis depicting people or body parts such as a fist or bicep look white.

An Apple spokeswoman says the company is working with the Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that sets the standards for the pictograms, "to update the standard so that it better represents diversity for all of us."

Unicode last fall proposed adding five new skin color options for emoji.