In today’s Bulldog wrapup of science and technology news:

  • Apple says it needs more time before new ear buds are read
  • Chip maker Qualcomm buying NXP Semiconductors in $38.1B deal
  • Federal tech innovation service to be led by Ex-Pixar exec
  • Sale or no sale, changes could come to Twitter users
  • New York’s MoMA acquires original set of emojis

The details:

  • Apple says it needs more time before new ear buds are ready

Apple says it needs “a little more time” before it starts selling the new wireless ear buds that are designed to work with its newest iPhones — the ones that don’t come with a dedicated headphone jack.

The tech giant showed off what it calls “AirPods” last month, during an event where it also introduced the new iPhone 7 smartphones. But unlike the iPhones, which went on sale in late September, Apple had said the AirPods would go on sale in late October. Now the Cupertino, California company isn’t saying when they’ll be released, or why it needs more time.

You can still listen to audio on the new iPhones by using other wireless headsets or plugging into the phone’s charging port, although older headsets may need a plug adapter.

  • Chip maker Qualcomm buying NXP Semiconductors in $38.1B deal

Smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm is buying NXP SemiconductorsN.V. in a deal valued at approximately $38 billion.

NXP shareholders will receive $110 per share for each share they own. That’s an 11.5 percent premium to the company’s Wednesday closing price of $98.66. The companies put the deal’s total value at about $47 billion.

The combined company is expected to have annual revenues of more than $30 billion.

The boards of both companies approved the transaction, which is targeted to close by the end of 2017.

Shares of Qualcomm Inc., which is based in San Diego, climbed more than 2 percent before the opening bell Thursday. Shares of NXP, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, gained more than 2 percent.

  • Federal tech innovation service to be led by Ex-Pixar exec

A former Pixar executive who won the first ever Oscar for software is taking over a U.S. government agency responsible for improving federal digital technology.

Rob Cook, whose credits include “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2,” will become commissioner of the Technology Transformation Service on Oct. 31. He will have top secret security clearance.

Cook is credited with advancements in software-driven animation. He said in a statement that the U.S. needs first-rate technology expertise, effective relationships with industry and partnerships throughout government. He declined, through a spokesman, to speak to The Associated Press. Cook’s appointment was for three years. He has been a Democratic donor to the campaigns of President Barack Obama and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The Technology Transformation Service is part of the U.S. General Services Administration. It was created in April to “transform the way government builds, buys and shares technology.” It includes “18F,” a Silicon Valley-style startup for government digital projects that was the subject of a highly critical review by the agency’s inspector general over its financial losses of $32 million and lack of viable financial planning, among other issues.

Cook will also oversee investments, acquisitions and the presidential innovation fellows program, among other offices.​

  • New York’s MoMA acquires original set of emojis

Back in the day, before cars could drive themselves and phones could send stickers and animations, a Japanese phone company released a set of 176 emojis.

The year was 1999 and the tiny 12-by-12 pixel designs — smiley faces, hearts of the intact and broken variety, cats, and so on — were mainly popular in Japan. In 2010, Unicode Consortium, which now controls emoji standards, translated the emoji into the Unicode standard, which means that a person in France, for example, can send an emojito a person in the U.S. and it will look the same, no matter what brand of phone or operating system they use.

New York’s Museum of Modern Art said Wednesday that it has acquired the original set of 176 emojis. They were a gift to the museum from the phone company, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.

“From the start (in 1929!), part of MoMA’s mission has been to display and collect the art (and design) of our time,” said Paola Antonelli, senior curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at the museum, in an email. “Our time is lived today in both the digital and the physical space.”

The museum’s other digital acquisitions have included the “@” symbol and video games.

As to how a museum acquires something as ubiquitous as a keyboard symbol or an emoji, Antonelli noted design works differently than art, which in many cases is unique — think of a painting, or a statue. Some design elements, such as the “@” symbol, are in the public domain, which means anyone can use them and the museum can simply display them.

The museum will show the emojis in its lobby through the end of the year, using 2D graphics and animations, and connecting the old emojis with the current generation.