Proposed Draft UTR #50, "Unicode Properties for Vertical Text Layout" has been updated to revision three. For instructions and information about commenting on this UTR, please see: http://www.unicode.org/review/pri207/

Updates include:

• Mongolian and Egyptian Hieroglyphs changed to U.
• Implementation of recent UTC decisions
  • Removal of the East Asian Class property
  • East Asian Orientation renamed East Asian Vertical Orientation
  • New property, Default Vertical Orientation

PRI #182: Unicode Regular Expressions: new proposed update

UTS #18, Unicode Regular Expressions provides the foundation for handling Unicode characters in regular expression engines, a key component of many programs and programming languages.

There are significant additions and changes in the new proposed update of this specification, with the addition of Name_Alias matching, matching rules from UAX #44, use of the new Script_Extensions property, new recommended properties, a compact form of \u{...}, alignment of rule RL1.4 with Appendix C, and the incorporation of text for PRI #179.

There are several of review notes requesting feedback on particular issues. Please submit feedback on those and the rest of this document by May 1 for consideration at the UTC meeting starting on May 7. For details, see:

http://www.unicode.org/review/pri182/

PRI #208, #209: Unicode Security: new proposed updates

UTR #36, Unicode Security Considerations and UTS #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms provide guidance and mechanisms to help deal with Unicode Security issues.

There are significant additions and changes in the new proposed updates of these specifications. The definition of Restriction Levels has moved from UTR #36 to UTS #39, which also adds two new conformance clauses and specifications for Restriction Levels and mixed number detection, an amended specification for mixed script detection, and updates for Unicode 6.1.

There are several of review notes requesting feedback on particular issues. Please submit feedback on those and the rest of this document by May 1 for consideration at the UTC meeting on May 7. For details, see:

http://www.unicode.org/review/pri208/
http://www.unicode.org/review/pri209/

New version of Unicode Ideographic Variation Database released

The Unicode Consortium is pleased to announce the release of version 2012-03-02 of the Unicode Ideographic Variation Database (IVD). This release adds 32 new sequences to the registered Adobe-Japan1 collection, and 8,850 new sequences to the registered Hanyo-Denshi collection. It also introduces a new datafile called IVD_Stats.txt that details Ideographic Variation Sequence (IVS) and Variation Selector (VS) usage for the entire IVD and on a per-collection basis. Details can be found at http://www.unicode.org/ivd/.

IUC 36: October 22-24, 2012, Santa Clara, CA, USA

The Internationalization and Unicode Conference (IUC) is the premier event covering the latest in industry standards and best practices for bringing software and Web applications to worldwide markets. This annual event focuses on software and Web globalization, bringing together internationalization experts, tools vendors, software implementers, and business and program managers from around the world.

Expert practitioners and industry leaders present detailed recommendations for businesses looking to expand to new international markets and those seeking to improve time to market and cost-efficiency of supporting existing markets. Recent conferences have provided specific advice on designing software for European countries, Latin America, China, India, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and emerging markets.

This highly rated conference features excellent technical content, industry-tested recommendations and updates on the latest standards and technology. Subject areas include cloud computing, upgrading to HTML5, integrating with social networking software, and implementing mobile apps. This year's conference will also highlight new features in Unicode Version 6.1 and other relevant standards published this year. Reasons to Attend Include:

• tutorials and sessions for beginners, to train you and your staff on basic practices and implementation techniques for creating international software 
• learn recommended solutions to difficult problems or sophisticated requirements from industry leaders and experts in attendance 
• find help from tool and product vendors to get you to market quickly and cost-effectively 

Click here for more information.