You're probably more than a little tired of video meetings at this (hopefully late) stage of the pandemic, but Zoom thinks it can inject some life into them. The company has introduced avatars that replace your head with a 3D character that mimics your facial expressions -- effectively, it's Apple's Animoji for virtual offices and classrooms. Only animals like cats, dogs and foxes are available for now, but Zoom is teasing more avatars in the future. You'll need Zoom 5.10.0 or later on iOS, Mac and Windows devices. The company stressed that this doesn't use facial recognition. The software is just looking for the presence of a face, not yours in particular.

Last year's iPhone X was a groundbreaking device, in part due to the removal of what made the iPhone so iconic. Gone was the fingerprint-scanning home button, and in its place was an aesthetically controversial "notch" to make room for the Face ID security (and Animoji) functionality. It was also groundbreaking in terms of price. It may have debuted alongside the $699-and-up iPhone 8, but it was the first thousand-dollar smartphone from Apple, a price a surprisingly high number of people were able to stomach for the sake of having the coolest phone on the block. With the new iPhone XS and XS Max, Apple is trying to tell us something: like it or not, this is the future of the iPhone.

One year ago, Craig Federighi opened his eyes, stared into the brand-new iPhone X, and showed the world how he could unlock it with his face. Or, at least, he tried. It took the Apple executive a few attempts and one back-up phone to get the screen to unlock without a fingerprint or a passcode. But then, like magic, he was in. This was Apple's annual fall hardware show, where the company dangles its newest iPhones before the world and sets the tone for consumer products to come.

At the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, Apple announced updates for iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS. This year, Apple revealed iOS 12 as the successor to last year's iOS 11. iOS 12 seems to emphasize performance improvements for Apple's devices rather than introducing groundbreaking features. By rolling out new features gradually through minor point updates going forward, it will prevent Apple's engineers from having to scramble to fix bugs as soon as a new major operating system is released as they had to in the past. The flagship features of iOS 11 included Apple Pay Cash, Do Not Disturb While Driving, real-time Siri translations, a customizable Control Center, the new Files app, document scanning in the Notes app, multitasking in iPad, indoor mall and airport maps and redesigned News, Music and App Store apps. And iOS 12 is bringing substantial performance improvements, Group FaceTime, customizable Animoji known as Memoji, seamless Camera Effect sharing, ARKit 2, Screen Time, better Notification Center and Do Not Disturb controls, Search Suggestions in Photos, a new Measure app, shortcuts with Siri, additional privacy controls in Safari and several redesigned Apple apps.

Apple has unveiled an update to animoji that will allow users to create their own personalized characters called'memojis' that can be used in a new version of FaceTime Apple first introduced Animoji with the iPhone X, the only device it works for due to the front-facing True Depth camera. Originally limited to few character options such as a cat, unicorn, or a poop, the company has now expanded the feature in iOS 12. The new'memoji' was allows people to make animated versions of themselves from within the Messages app. An animoji Tim Cook takes part in a FaceTime Group chat at Apple's WWDC event. The firm has added groups chat and a new'memoji' feature for the first time.

Following the successful launch of Animoji, Apple now appears to be focused on introducing a new set of emojis to consumers. The Cupertino giant has recently submitted disability-themed emojis for consideration by the Unicode Consortium, the non-profit organization that coordinates the development of the Unicode standard. Emoji blog Emojipedia was the first one to spot and report about Apple's new emojis. According to the site, Apple submitted the proposed pack of "accessibility emojis" on March 23, Friday. The pack reportedly includes wheelchairs, a hearing aid, prosthetic limbs and a guide dog, among others.

Samsung kept its word that it will launch the Galaxy S9 with a "reimagined" camera this Sunday. Part of the reimagined technology is the introduction of a new feature called AR Emoji that pretty much functions like Apple's Animoji on iPhone X. In a press release, Samsung said that it developed AR Emoji "to offer users a visual communication tool that allows them to express themselves in a way that's unique to them." According to the South Korea giant the feature's machine-learning algorithm analyzes over 100 distinct facial features when generating a personalized 3D avatar or emoji. From eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks and just about any facial feature, AR Emoji copies everything to come up with an animated emoji version of the user.

Samsung has a history of going toe-to-toe (or sometimes, finger to finger) with Apple on features with its Galaxy S phones, and the Galaxy S9 may be no exception to the rule. ETNews sources have claimed that the S9 will include a "3D emoji" feature that -- surprise! The smartphone would reportedly use upgraded facial recognition (no word on how closely it matches the iPhone) to create 3D faces that mimic your facial expressions and add a little spice to your messages. The technology would also lead to "more secure financial transactions," which implies that you could use your face for Samsung Pay in the same way that iPhone X owners can stare at their device to use Apple Pay. The rumor also reinforces some previous leaks, including a rear camera with aperture control (as bright as f/1.5), dual rear cameras on the larger S9 Plus and stereo speakers.

The Apple iPhone X you just received as a present this holiday season behaves differently in a few significant ways from all other iPhones. Oh sure, it runs the same iOS 11 software as on other models, and nearly all the same apps. But just for starters, the absence of the traditional home button coupled with Face ID facial recognition sets the $999 (on up) iPhone X apart. Here are 10 tips to help you master Apple's most expensive iPhone, which often involves learning new gestures. More: I've had an iPhone X all week.

After the iPhone X's release on Friday, it didn't take long for users to start using the Animoji feature. Apple revealed Animoji, the customized animated emoji feature, during its September event. Users can pick from dozens of Animoji to express their emotions on iMessage through the iPhone X's TrueDepth camera, which is also used for the Face ID. Users can access the feature by going in the Messages app under the App section and tapping on the Animoji app. When the app opens up, the left side of the screen displays 12 characters: robot, cat, fox, monkey, puppy, alien, unicorn, poop, pig, panda, bunny and chicken.