*By Conor White* Apple has done Snapchat one better with the introduction of its "Memojis," animated self-styled avatars users can send to friends, according to the editor of Emojipedia. Jeremy Burge, who runs the online encyclopedia of all things emoji, said the filters created by Snapchat have been the prevailing standard in animated selfies, but Apple offers something a little new. "You want to send something to someone but don't want to send yourself, maybe you feel awkward or whatever, and you want something kind of fun," said Burge in an interview Monday June 4 with Cheddar's Hope King, hours after Apple unveiled its new feature at its annual developers conference, WWDC "I've tried some other similar things," he said. "It's sort of like Bitmoji, or Samsung has something similar, but this one's sort of super customizable, lets you make it look however you want, and it's fun." Apple's Memojis won't give your friends the heebie-jeebies, either, according to Burge. "I've seen some that look pretty creepy," he said. Memojis will be available with iOS 12, likely to be released in September. For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/memoji-myself-and-i).

Share:
More In Technology
Snap's Gloomy Forecast May Be a Unique Case Among Social Media Platforms
Snap stock saw the worst day ever after a large drop in price on Tuesday following warnings of revenue and earnings slowdown. This trend caught on with other social and digital media stocks due to fears that brands heavily relying on advertising get hit with the same inflation struggles. However, some analysts note that Snap may be a unique case due to a rapid, possibly unsustainable, expansion leading to the current grim forecast.
Deep Dive Into Virtual and Augmented Reality Headsets
From Meta’s Oculus to PlayStation’s VR headsets, Cheddar News anchors Ken Bufa and Kristen Scholer cover the potential for this tech in Cheddar Connected as more heavy hitters like Apple look to take the stage.
Anja Health Raises $4.5 Million to Offer Parents Technology to Freeze Umbilical Cord's Stem Cells for Future Disease Treatment
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Musk Twitter Commitment, Apple Raises Wages, and Roblox ADHD Help
Catching you up on what you missed in today's news. Elon Musk has increased his commitment to purchase Twitter to $33.5 billion, Apple is raising its hourly wages for retail stores to compete for talent, and Roblox has announced that it will be partnering with the medically prescribed video game ‘Endeavor’ to help treat patients with ADHD.
Calls Grow for Social Media to Flag Threats in Wake of School Shooting
After learning that the suspect in the Uvalde school shooting posted about his intentions on Facebook, activists are urging social networks to make changes. Lena Derhally, a licensed psychotherapist and author of "The Facebook Narcissist," joined Cheddar News to discuss the role social media plays in school shootings. "They're not really invested in taking down hateful content," she said about social platforms."In regards to the shooting, it was 15 minutes before that actual threat. It would be pretty hard for a social media company to trace that threat that quickly. But what they can do better is take down threats and hateful content much faster and more than they're doing now."
Load More