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Mobile Phones w/ Support for Chinese Characters?

Posted by Cliff on from the multilingual dept.

antifoidulus asks: "I am learning both Chinese and Japanese(well, I can converse in Japanese, but I can only say that I want to eat stuff in Chinese!) and I was curious if there were any phones available in the US which I can use to read/write Chinese/Japanese characters. I frequently communicate with friends in Japan, and I would like be able to send Japanese mail on my phone. I have a Japanese phone, but it seems Verizon says that it will not work on their network. I would prefer to have something that I can upload Java programs to, so I can customize my language practice."

68 comments

  1. Nokia Series 90 by Fizzl · · Score: 2, Informative

    ..Will have atleast Chinese support. Keep your eyes focused at the web pages.

    --
    Bot Assisted Blogging
  2. Java is right out... by Muad'Dave · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...on Verizon phones if you intend to download them across their network. They only support Brew applications, and the SDK is like $1500. Verizon only allows App downloads from their for-pay Get It Now service. (You can use a cable and gagin to load apps directly into the phone). There is talk of a Brew JRE, but I haven't seen it and I'd guess it'd be too big and too slow.

    I'm going to re-research carriers when my current contract is up - I want my Java phone!

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  3. Speaking Chinese by tod_miller · · Score: 5, Funny

    but I can only say that I want to eat stuff in Chinese!

    twentyseven with fortythree, is thirtysix spicey?, ok a side of twelve, and a can of coke.

    Sorry.

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
    1. Re:Speaking Chinese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and it's always the same... "i'll have 13 orders of General Tsos, 7 Chicken & Broccoli and 4 orange chicken" "twenty minutes." or "i'll have a small side of white rice" "twenty minutes"

    2. Re:Speaking Chinese by Lars+T. · · Score: 1

      Ahh,yes. Chinese Roulette.

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

    3. Re:Speaking Chinese by 808140 · · Score: 1

      If you speak Chinese, they're rather more civil.

  4. Loads of issues by Saiai+Hakutyoutani · · Score: 4, Informative

    Support for Chinese characters isn't actually one package that can be supported as such. First of all, you need fonts: Traditional fonts, simplified, Korean and Japanese fonts. Then you need support for encodings, like GB18030, ISO-2022-JP, ISO-2022-KR, Unicode, etc. And last but not least you need input methods, and Asian input methods are often rather complex.

    Since at least Japanese users often prefer to send e-mail over their phones rather than text messages, it would be feasible to make a Java e-mail app that supported a few input methods and encoding conversions, as well as a rendering engine for Asian characters. However, I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a good thing if Nokia's trying to address this.

    1. Re:Loads of issues by beswicks · · Score: 5, Interesting

      While this is true, there are PLENTY of phones that can do japanise / chinese character encoding.

      The basic way to so it, with only the ~12 buttons or so on a mobile phone, is to mark the keys with the different types of strokes that make up the chacters. Chinese charaters (and therfore at least some of japanise, but i don't know how to write 'any' japanise) are written in a particular order from a finite set of strokes, so it you know how to write chineese properly (i.e. know the stroke order rules not just the 'pretty pictures') this system is VERY usable.

      In fact I can use a chineese phone to type better than i can use a full keyboard, because the system makes more sense to me.

      Also for the chineese, getting a chineese font ain't that hard, and if your using java to build and app, then its unicode anyway.

      If you could be bothered to code an app, all you'd need is a java phone, and a marker to add the stokes to the keys.

    2. Re:Loads of issues by Saiai+Hakutyoutani · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well, Japanese and Korean at least necessitate either romanized input, or input with a uniquely Japanese layout. I'm guessing that for an English-speaking user, romanized input is just as well.

      It's interesting how Java uses Unicode internally, though... The encoding conversion necessary to send the e-mails off to an Asian phone might not be that hard, and if the current Java-capable phones (like the Nokia 3510i) are already capable of correctly rendering Asian text, then it's more or less just a matter of creating an input method and a simple e-mail client.

    3. Re:Loads of issues by beswicks · · Score: 1

      I have never seen a japaniese phone, but, I don't see why japanise companies would do the research into an input system that is purley based on the basic concepts of how you write chinese chars, ie no pin-yin or other type some letters and i'll work out the char you ment, and not bother to do so for the much larger japanise markets. I mean japanise cangie (that is soo wrong spelled) is chinese anyway, so why would it be a problem, you just need to add the 'simpler' japaniese characters.

      As for unicode in Java, I have no idea how the virtual machine handles the particular bit pushing, but any string in java is actually a unicode string, instead of being 8bit or so per char like in c.

    4. Re:Loads of issues by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well both Japanese and Korean have phonetic characters in addition to the Chinese characters. These phonetic characters are required to conjugate Japanese verbs, for use as sentence particles etc, as well as they can be used instead of the kanji. When Japanese people use their cell phones, they input the phonetic characters directly(There are about 50 of these phonetic symbols, organised into 10 groups by initial consonant, and each group has 5 vowels in it, so it's quite easy, if a bit slow, to enter them on a phone).
      I'm not sure exactly how Korean works, the Hangul I know is phonetic, but they can also use Chinese characters. Though, from what I understand, the Chinese characters are usually for show(when writing the proper names of people or places etc) and serve very little grammatical function in day to day writing anymore, but I could be wrong.

      --
      Monstar L
    5. Re:Loads of issues by Saiai+Hakutyoutani · · Score: 1

      I know how the encoding is handled, I'm more worried about the actual rendering. Can the Java virtual machines on phones with limited memory render Asian fonts?

      As for the Japanese input methods, they need to use the Japanese kana alphabets, not kanji, since you can't write Japanese using kanji alone.

    6. Re:Loads of issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you can't write Japanese using kanji alone.

      For some reason I suspect the compilers of the Man'youshuu might not be prepared to agree with that.

    7. Re:Loads of issues by Saiai+Hakutyoutani · · Score: 1

      Ha ha.

    8. Re:Loads of issues by windside · · Score: 1

      That's right. The basic Japanese phonetic alphabet is called hiragana. They actually have another one called katakana, which is used for describing "foreign" things like the menu at McDonalds. A lot of the time when you see Japanese writing on CD covers or t-shirts (I think a recent Madonna, for example) it's in this alphabet.

      Anyways, more on-topic, you said that it's "quite easy, if a bit slow, to enter them on the phone". Having owned a cell phone in Japan for the past year, I have to disagree about the supposed "slowness". Even a ham-handed gaijin like me found it quite easy to send messages in hiragana, or even in kanji ("chinese" characters) with use of the insanely handy "kanji convert" function: basically, you enter a few characters in hiragana then press a button and it brings up an enumerated list of all the possible kanji. Crazy.

      Moreover, the experienced Japanese users are insanely fast. In fact, I would say the Japanese language is even better-suited to the "text message" input system than English.

      Just some food for thought.

      --
      ...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
      Churchill
    9. Re:Loads of issues by antifoidulus · · Score: 1

      I know that, if you see the subject, I had a japanese phone, but I just tried to simplify it for someone who doesn't know much about it.....

      --
      Monstar L
    10. Re:Loads of issues by Joseph_Daniel_Zukige · · Score: 1

      The young kids are pretty quick with those keypads. But they tend to keep a list of standard phrases handy, as well, which shortens typing considerably when they mostly speak in idiom.


      My wife prefers my iBook to her cell phone.


      Now, if we wanted to do this sort of thing with English on a regular keyboard, we would have an input filter, so that when you had typed two or three keys and the list of likely candidates was narrowed down a bit, a menu of candidates would pop up. I think several word processors have experimented with this, and the consensus is that it's usually just easier to type it out in English. But it might make sense on an English cell phone.


    11. Re:Loads of issues by Joseph_Daniel_Zukige · · Score: 1

      you can't write Japanese using kanji alone.

      For some reason I suspect the compilers of the Man'youshuu might not be prepared to agree with that.

      Well, if you want to someone currently living to read it, you will use kana.

    12. Re:Loads of issues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well I'm an American married to a Chinese woman in Taiwan where we both live and she is a big cell phone user and all her friends are too, but as far as I know she has never sent a text message and I occasionally teach and I've never seen a student send a text message either. I've seen plenty of people check their e-mail on their cell phones, but definitely no input. In fact, I know bilingual Chinese people in high paying positions who use English every day who think typing in Chinese characters even with a PC keyboard is too much hassle and just use English instead. Indeed, my wife and her friends only write e-mail in Chinese when they're talking about private affairs or ideas they have a hard time expressing in English or for a very short message.
      Most keyboard users in Taiwan use an input method called ZhuYin which, despite looking somewhat similar to the Japanese phonetic symbols is totally different. It's also known as bopomofo which is a kind of fun name. I learned this system when I was learning Chinese. But since then, Taiwan has switched to PinYin for teaching foreigners Chinese. I think this is a mistake, but that's how it is for now. So, both Taiwan and Mainland China use PinYin to teach foreigners Chinese. So, your input method is already there since you will be taught using the English alphabet.
      On the technical side, the differences between ZhuYin and PinYin aren't that great because both require a context menu since you can only begin to identify the character with either system even if you do get the tones right. If you don't know the tones, both systems are tough and for a foreign ear, the tones can be hard to pick up which means, by extension, that input systems can be hard to master.
      I've endlessly encountered the fact that Chinese is easy once you know it. The problem is, there is no easy way to climb inside, you've just got to get in somehow and then turn around and say, oh that was easy to fuck with the people who come next.

  5. The problem is your network by beswicks · · Score: 5, Informative

    I cannot speak for the US, but in the UK, this is REALLY easy.

    All you need to do is find out the requirements for your network, and then buy a phone from hong kong, that has chineese input, and works with you carriers network.

    Thats what my friends do, and they can then send each other SMS, over the UK networks, in chinese, using the 12 key input system i described in another post, and it 'just works'(tm).

    So my recomendation would be find a phone from hong kong that works with a US network, and buy the phone and switch networks, you can even use the phone in 'english' and have the chinese as a possible option.

    If you want an exact recomendation, look at Motorola, the one with the circular display, where the key guard 'spins' around the display to show the keys. The chinese ones have the 'stokes' written on the number keys, so they are kinda obvious.

    Hope this helps.

    1. Re:The problem is your network by aminorex · · Score: 1

      That's what you get for living in a free country.

      --
      -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
    2. Re:The problem is your network by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As per your sig:
      look at this
      It's possible...but I have no clue how. Slashcode automatically removes any &#, you can try &&##, but slashcode automatically puts the amp after every ampersand you make, which won't work right(note in this example I purposely put the amps in). So you can get interesting sigs, you just have to figure out how.

    3. Re:The problem is your network by Saiai+Hakutyoutani · · Score: 1

      If Slashdot switched to Unicode, this whole problem would disappear. But the question remains whether it's actually a problem.

    4. Re:The problem is your network by leonbrooks · · Score: 1
      they can then send each other SMS, over the UK networks, in chinese, using the 12 key input system
      They'd have to have... how many really tiny ideograms printed on each key, along with 3-4 letters and a digit? (-:
      --
      Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
    5. Re:The problem is your network by Gaijin42 · · Score: 1

      More likely it would work he same way most word processors work in Japan. You type in romaji (Japanese spelled out phoenetically in english) (or katakana, which would only need 4-5 letters per key) and the program makes predictive guesses about which char you want. Much like phones work for typing ahead english words.

    6. Re:The problem is your network by Eideewt · · Score: 1

      The sytem described in the other post mentioned was one using the stokes that make up each character.

    7. Re:The problem is your network by Eideewt · · Score: 1

      Oops. I meant, "strokes that make up each character."

    8. Re:The problem is your network by Koushiro · · Score: 1

      Well, there is also the Nokia 3108, which uses a rather nifty stylus entry system. I have one (imported from Hong Kong), and it works surprisingly well for both Chinese and English text entry. Alas, it doesn't have many of the obscure characters, but what can you expect? It's only a cellphone...

      Oh, yes, and it supports Java, and MMS, and all that jazz. I don't know what the importing situation is in the US, but it shouldn't be too difficult to track down...

      --
      Karma: Oldschool
    9. Re:The problem is your network by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      My Chinese phone requires Pin Yin input, that is, you type in the letters that spell the character phonetically, and the phone displays the availible characters that can be represented by that sound. Chinese people have no problem with it, myself, I use it on occasion to type in place names, and it's not difficult.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    10. Re:The problem is your network by 808140 · · Score: 1

      This is not true of most phones in Hong Kong, because in Hong Kong, they speak Cantonese. There is no official romanization system for Cantonese.

      On the mainland, Hanyu Pinyin is the standard romanization system for Mandarin and all phones support pinyin-based input systems. I've owned several Nokias and they all also do a 5-stroke based system, which I guess could be useful if you run into a character you don't know, but how often does that happen.

      In Taiwan I guess they might use Wade Giles, ZhuYin, or some other crack ass system to input Mandarin.

      The term "Chinese" is misleading. It's probably best just not to use it. Lots of characters commonly used in Cantonese are rather rare in Mandarin (like mouth + 5 + mouth, meaning 'not' in Cantonese, and nothing at all in Mandarin).

  6. I found the coolest phone you need for this! by gorim · · Score: 1

    Check out this link to vodafone Japan. Historically there is no compatibility between Japanese and outside Japan cell networks, but some very new and very cool phones just came out. Read this link. Many Japanese phones are multilingual they just don't work with GSM and other networks, but this one does. Your jaw will drop :)

    http://www.vodafone.jp/english/service/vgs/produ ct /v801.html

    1. Re:I found the coolest phone you need for this! by Saiai+Hakutyoutani · · Score: 1

      Thanks man, that's excellent. I'll be considering this phone when I go to Japan.

    2. Re:I found the coolest phone you need for this! by Hast · · Score: 1

      Actually don't. That looks pretty weak compared to the cool stuff you can get there.

      Naturally you can't use them when you get back to US/Europe... but they're so cool you'll carry them with you just to show off. (Camera, MP3 etc still works naturally.)

      Check out NTTDoCoMo's pages for some really cool stuff.

    3. Re:I found the coolest phone you need for this! by gorim · · Score: 1

      Actually do. This phone is dual-banded as a GSM phone in additional to W-CDMA. Vodafone Japan offers it is a phone that will work both in Japan and US/Europe. Please RTFlink. :)

  7. e28 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    www.e28.com -- cool phone. does everything.

  8. Oh and forget using Verizon with anywhere else by gorim · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Verizon is standard CDMA and no Japanese phones use that. In fact, Japanese phones don't use anything used elsewhere in the world, except the now brand-new W-CDMA standard. Cellphone manufacturers are just now making tri-band dual-standard phones that roam between the newer W-CDMA networks in japan (and rolling out elsewhere in the world) and the older GSM service.

    GSM service in the United States exists with Cingular, T-Mobile, and the soon tobe defunct ATT. Oddly enough, Vodafone owns a chunk of Verizon, but the CDMA standard isn't used by Vodafone anywhere else in the world, everything else is GSM. I think Vodafone really wanted ATT Wireless to expand their US presence in a compatible way but they have that Verizon boat anchor that probably kept them from making a bid.

    Since I live in Japan now, I have had to ramp up on how cell phones work. They are definitely cooler here.

    1. Re:Oh and forget using Verizon with anywhere else by Smitty825 · · Score: 1
      Ummm...
      --

      Doh!
  9. need a GSM phone? by Glog · · Score: 1

    You need to figure out what the phone standard is in Japan - I think it's GSM but don't quote me on that. Then you need to talk to AT&T Wireless - they are the biggest company in the US supporting GSM.

    1. Re:need a GSM phone? by psyconaut · · Score: 1

      iMode is prevalent in Japan, not GSM. FYI.

      -psy

    2. Re:need a GSM phone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "i-mode" is a service concept wrapped around chtml. It's nothing to do with the carrier method.

    3. Re:need a GSM phone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Until it was announced that Cyngular wanted to buy them and merge with them, AT&T's GSM network was a joke. I haven't been able to figure out if they REALLY increased their network on their own or are just counting Cyngular's network as part of their own. AT&T Mobile's bread and butter was always CDMA phones. AT&T's customer service is truly awful and their prices aren't all that great. We use them at work and I can assure you that we pay way too much for some crappy phones that don't work very well. AT&T is the worst cell phone provider in the US, hands down. We use CDMA phones at work, by the way.
      I have a personal phone with T-Mobile and T-Mobile is great. T-Mobile and Cyngular roam on each other's network. If I had to recommend someone get a GSM phone in the US, my first recommendation would be T-Mobile and then Cyngular. I can't see any reason why anyone should go with AT&T.

  10. Therre is *NO* GSM in Japan by gorim · · Score: 2, Informative

    You have to buy a Japanese phone that can also dual-mode with GSM networks.

    Japan has a variety of 2.5 and 3G cellular networks. Long before the rest of the world, thus why so little compatibility.

    But that all is changing with W-CDMA (not to be confused with plain old CDMA from the USA). Tri-band dual-mode phones that do W-CDMA and GSM are coming out that can be used globally *including* in Japan.

  11. Treo 600 by Col.+Klink+(retired) · · Score: 1

    The Treo 600 is a palm-based phone, so you should be able to install CJK OS onto it. Caveat: I haven't tried this.

    --

    -- Don't Tase me, bro!

  12. cheap solution... by omghi2u · · Score: 1

    OMG-if you want a cheap solution...

    T-Mobile makes the sidekick,
    You can make sidekick turn Japanese,
    Text msg would work!

  13. Get GSM by LuYu · · Score: 1

    You need a tri-band GSM phone produced for the Asian market. Chances are, you will have to order it over the internet.

    Fortunately, if you get a service provider in the US that has GSM service, you should get a SIM card which can be put into any GSM phone in the world.

    You need tri-band because the US operates on a funny frequency (ie. different than Europe and Asia -- or the whole Asian landmass if you think of it that way).

    Remember also, that the Chinese cellphone market is the largest in the world, so just about every model of cellphone available anywhere is available in China with Chinese software. I have yet to see one that cannot switch to English.

    Having both Chinese and Japanese support is a tougher one because the Japanese market is technologically very ahead of everywhere else, and they do not use software or hardware that is compatible with other countries' standards to my knowledge. All the Japanese phones I have seen appear to support English, as well.

    I have not used it, but if Motorola's A760 can be configured, there is the possbility that you could get both Chinese and Japanese running on it. It is possible with a Zaurus, but you need a terminal to do it. If the A760 does not allow access to config files, it would be impossible.

    I hope this helps.

    --
    All data is speech. All speech is Free.
  14. Nokia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most Nokias I've owned over past 6-7 years had at least English, Spanish and Chinese as an option. I've also seen Hebrew, Russian, French and Portugese.

    Stop by a wireless store and play around with phones on display.

  15. Ob King of the Hill quote by HungWeiLo · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Are you Chinese or Japanese?"

    "Actually, I come from a small Southeast Asian country called Laos."

    "So are you Chinese or Japanese?"

    --
    There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
  16. Hiptop by leighklotz · · Score: 1

    The Hiptop displays Japanese and Chinese fine, and if you become a developer you can install a Japanese dictionary , or use one online in its browser.

  17. ... by way of Omaha ... by Joseph_Daniel_Zukige · · Score: 1

    I was talking with a guy with one of the keitai companies a couple of months back and he said I would have to connect long distance with their network to use their phone in the US.

    8-*

  18. no java with verizon by Suppafly · · Score: 1

    good luck finding a phone that supports java to work with verizon, all of there phones are brew based.

  19. Treo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Treo would probably be your best bet, as PalmOS can work in Japanese. Support for Japanese is possible via J-OS or CJKOS. With CJKOS, you should be able to use Chinese as well as Japanese (and Korean, if you need). I have used J-OS on my Palm once upon a time, and it worked OK. Many Japanese Palm users have been using it for a while to send e-mails from their PalmOS PDAs, so it should have no problem sending e-mail in Japanese to other devices (including phones).
    Your Japanese phone will NEVER work in the US carrier, as Japanese carriers use their own standards (there is no GSM, no regular CDMA in Japan. Even wCDMA is based upon partly their standard, which does not necessary allow regular wCDMA to work in their network nor their phone in regular wCDMA network).
    Besides, I don't think there is a Japanese phone that can truely let you use Chinese on. Keep it in your mind, just because Japanese use Chinese characters in writing doesn't mean they use all the Chinese characters. There are a tons of Chinese characters that does not exist in Japanese (or rarely used). Japanese phones are geared clearly towards entering Chinese characters used in Japanese (aka Kanji) writings (as well as alphanumeric). So, if you were to enter anything in Chinese, you will have to enter everything as if you are pronouncing that particular character in Japanese, not in Chinese, which means you will have to enter it quite a bit differently (trust me, I can read/write/speak Japanese perfectly).

  20. Hmmmm ... by gstoddart · · Score: 1
    Actually, I come from a small Southeast Asian country called Laos."

    "So are you Chinese or Japanese?"


    Doesn't look Japanese to me. Looks Laosian!

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  21. Zircon Z3 / G88 by SpooForBrains · · Score: 1

    http://www.gst.com.sg/

    Seriously. Very similar to the Treo in functionality (I know, I have the Z3, a colleague has the Treo). Runs PalmOS and has chinese character support natively, without needing to install anything. The handwriting recognition is also an advantage in inputting the characters.

    Very nice, VERY small, very capable phone.

    --
    "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
  22. Now to invent a handset that purrs when stroked by leonbrooks · · Score: 1

    So what the system does is effectively treat a stroke as a Westerner would treat a letter, and a whole ideogram as a word?

    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
    1. Re:Now to invent a handset that purrs when stroked by Eideewt · · Score: 1

      I'm no expert (or indeed even someone who's seen the system in action), but I believe so, from the description above. As it says, the strokes making up a character are always written in a particular order, so the software in the phone can make an educated guess as to where the next stroke you input goes.

  23. Not quite correct by gorim · · Score: 1

    As I linked in an earlier comment, Vodafone Japan sells phones with that are dual-mode and tri-band that work both with their local Japanese W-CDMA network and worldwide GSM networks. These are new and advanced phones that have the same 3G capabilities as their Japan-only counterparts. They are also multi-lingual.

    As such, a TREO would only be useful outside Japan, and have not nearly the same capabilities as a dedicated 3G phone.

    1. Re:Not quite correct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know Vodafone Japan sells GSM capable phone in Japan. However, the point is, his phone isn't! He has phone from Au by KDDI, which does not support GSM phone.
      I brought up Treo, because what he is asking for is a phone that is capable of displaying/inputing in Japanese and Chinese. He is not even asking for a phone that works Japan and China as well as in the US. He says he frequently communicates with friends in Japan, and would like to send Japanese mail on his phone. He does not say he is going Japan and use the phone there.
      In that perspective, I still think Treo is the way to go.

  24. Related question by raider_red · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know of a phone available in the U.S. which can handle the Cyrillic character set? I'm planning on going to Russia next year with my Church, and I'm in the process of learning to speak, read, and write Russian. I'm looking for ways I can practice in everyday life.

    --
    It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
    1. Re:Related question by antifoidulus · · Score: 1

      Ironically, my Japanese phone also supported cryillic. I don't think it was to actually use it(the input method was clunky), but to do physics. It had double integral signs, set theory symbols, and even a line integral. Nothing beats calculus on the train!

      --
      Monstar L
  25. Handwriting recog? by chendo · · Score: 1

    The Nokia 6108 has a stylus that allows you to input Chinese characters simply by writing them. I suppose there should be a Chinese/Japanese capable version of this phone.

    I actually own this phone, and it's pretty useful, although I never write messages in Chinese, it's still fun to play with.

    --
    Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
  26. K700i by cadelor · · Score: 1

    The Sony-Ericsson K700i can do Chinese input.
    Mine was bought in Hong Kong, so you may need to get the store to install the Hong Kong firmware (R2A041 prgCXC 125882_HONG_KONG_C). Oh, and yes it can do English too.
    You use only 8 keys (6 numbers, left, right) to enter the characters, as it uses T9 predictive texting. Basically you enter the strokes as you would write them.

    1. Re:K700i by 808140 · · Score: 1

      Unless he's learning Cantonese, or he's Taiwanese and has political issues with Pinyin, it's probably easier for him to get mainland chinese or singaporean firmware. Entering by stroke is a pain in the butt.

      Most pinyin capable phones can enter by stroke in the way you describe, but why on earth would you want to?

  27. Don't know where by Spark00 · · Score: 0, Troll
    Don't know where you are in the US, but if you're in a city with a large asian population you may try what we do here in Toronto. At a local Chinese mall you can have your phone from someplace else 'adjusted' to work on whichever network you want. So if provider A has a lock on a certain brand or model, but you're on provider B, they can change the 'frequency'. likewise with phones from HK , japan, europe etc.

    my use of ' quotes means i have no clue what they do or how, or how much it pisses off the providers, but i know they can do this.

    Friends have bought phones that are not offered in the US or Canada, and they work just fine, others have brought back phones from China and they aslo work fine.

  28. In Malaysia GSM Network by wkwoo · · Score: 1

    Not sure will this help.
    It's pretty simple over here. Just grab a mobilephone that can display and enter chinese chars and off you go.
    For chinese chars input, I mostly use T9 PinYing with my Siemens C35i (yeah, it's old but functioning, i m not those kind of swithcing phone every few months).

  29. Have you tried Vodaphone? by conJunk · · Score: 1

    I don't know if vodaphone has anything available in the US, but the kana and kanji on my vodaphone (here in japan) is great...

    one idea might be to look into who makes the phones in japan or china, and find a model that can be used with a US service provider, and just have the model shipped to you... my phone (with video capture, still camera, english, kana, kanji, and texting, cost 1 yen; so price shouldnt be an issue)

    alternatively, since texting and email are so popular here, you may not need a phone... every phone comes with an email addy, and you can send emails from your regular account to them (although they don't like hotmail, i think because of the size of all the junk hotmail appends to your message)...

    both my mac and my linux box have excellent kana/kanji support, and i send emails from my computer to others folks phones, in kanji, all the time...

    good luck!

  30. Almost any GSM phone will have Chinese support by blumpy · · Score: 1

    Almost any GSM phone will have a version of the firmware with Chinese support, as almost all GSM phones were released in China/Hong Kong at one point. You may need to convince someone at your telco to flash your phone with the equivalent models firmware from asia... which they may or may not do... (Fido in Canada does it if you can convince the technician that you need it) or if you want to do it yourself, you can usually buy a datacable of some sort and get the software yoruself, via always google/ebay. But of course, if you don't know what you're doing, you may destroy your phone. =)

    As for Japanese, it's probably a different story.

  31. japanese by khrtt · · Score: 1

    From your post it sounds like you are not actually in China, but rather someplace like the US. If US is the case, it might be easier/cheaper for you to get a phone and activate it here, then flash the language firmware. I've done this with a t610 on t-mobile. The t610 was free after rebates. At&t and cingular also have GSM phones, but they use the stupid 850 MHz band, and most of their "world" phones are actually versions of the normal 900/1800/1900 phones with 900 replaced by 850, so they don't work at 900. t-mobile, on the other hand, doesn't use 850, so you can get a real 900/1800/1900 phone from them that will be useful abroad. The language pack on my t610 is independent from the main phone firmware, and can be flashed separately. The asian language pack supports Kanji, Japanese, and Korean, in addition to English.