UNICODE Update....fyi

[Andrew Meit]

Version 4.1 of the Unicode(R) Standard Released


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Unicode(R) 
Consortium announced today the release of the latest version of the 
Unicode Standard, Version 4.1.0. This version adds 1,273 new 
characters, including those necessary to complete roundtrip mapping of 
the HKSCS and GB 18030 standards, five new currency signs, some 
characters for Indic and Korean, and eight new scripts. In addition, 
there have been a number of significant additions and changes to the 
Unicode Character Database properties, which determine the behavior of 
characters in modern software.

     Unicode 4.1 adds two new Unicode Standard Annexes: UAX #31: 
Identifier and Pattern Syntax and UAX #34: Unicode Named Character 
Sequences, and makes significant changes to other Unicode Standard 
Annexes. UAX #31 is of particular interest as a result of the broader 
incorporation of Unicode in protocols and programming languages. 
Applications from programming languages to international domain names 
require stable mechanisms for distinguishing both identifiers and 
syntax characters, even as characters for additional languages are 
added to the Unicode Standard.

     The release of Unicode 4.1 will be soon followed by a new release 
of the Unicode Collation Algorithm, for language-sensitive sorting, 
searching, and matching; by Unicode Regular Expressions, setting the 
standard for handling Unicode character in regular expressions; and by 
a new draft of Unicode Security Considerations, for dealing with 
security issues posed by the large number of visually-similar 
characters in Unicode.

     For complete details on Unicode 4.1, see 
http://www.unicode.org/versions/4.1.0/ . Those interested in the latest 
developments in software globalization can attend the next Unicode 
conference, April 6-8, 2005 in Berlin, Germany.

     About the Unicode Standard

     The Unicode Standard is a fundamental component of all modern 
software and information technology protocols. It provides a uniform, 
universal architecture and encoding for all languages of the world -- 
with over 96,000 characters currently encoded -- and is the basis for 
processing, storage, and seamless data interchange of text data 
worldwide. Unicode is required by modern standards such as XML, Java, 
C#, ECMAScript (JavaScript), LDAP, CORBA 3.0, WML, IDN, etc., and is 
the official way to implement ISO/IEC 10646.

     About the Unicode Consortium

     The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization founded to 
develop, extend and promote software globalization. The membership of 
the consortium represents a broad spectrum of corporations and 
organizations in the computer and information processing industry. Full 
members (the highest level) are: Adobe Systems, L'Agence 
intergouvernementale de la Francophonie, Apple Computer, Government of 
India -- Ministry of Information Technology, Government of Pakistan -- 
National Language Authority, HP, IBM, Justsystem, Microsoft, Monotype 
Imaging, Oracle, RLG, SAP, Sun Microsystems, and Sybase. In addition, 
there are about 100 Supporting, Associate, Liaison, and Individual 
members.

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

SOURCE  Unicode Consortium