Can install multiling keyboard on Xperia 8?

[#1]

I am in China for 6 months (September to February). It seems everyone here uses mobile phones on which they text in pinyin (this is a way of writing Chinese characters in Roman letters) and then Chinese characters (Hanzi) are displayed on the screen & sent as texts. (For each syllable you get offered a choice of possible characters & you pick the correct one.) My Xperia 8 can receive such texts & forward them, but cannot write them. Everyone here seems surprised that it doesn't do it. I managed to download an app called multiling keyboard which is supposed to work on Android phones, I installed it, but it still doesn't work. Even the cheapest phones here have this system.

It was hard work to download it. I tried to download to my laptop so I could transfer it by cable but I couldn't find any sites that let me download an apk file; I tried from my internet at home but it's not wireless, & it seems the phone has to have a wi-fi, so I finally managed it in a café yesterday. The phone now gives me lots of language choices, but clicking and ticking them seems to have no effect. When I have the keyboard out, the only languages available do not include Chinese. I tried turning the phone off & starting again, & also installed a programme called Google input.

Does anyone know if it's possible to have a Chinese character/pinyin input on my Xperia 8?

By the way I managed to get Linda file manager, it was an apk file, so I downloaded it to my pc. But PC Companion doesn't allow bluetooth connection to xperia 8, so I had to bluetooth it to my (dirt cheap) nokia, then from that to the xperia, then I could install it from the bluetooth notification bar. Very complicated!

Some folk here also have an app where they can draw characters on the screen & the phone recognises them. It may be an i-phone or Galaxy, 'm not sure. Does anyone know if this is available for my phone?

Thanks

[uliwooly-wooly]

I wonder if we can port the Xperia Arc's keyboard it does have all those input methods

PinYin, Stroke, Handwriting, ZhuYin, Cangjie

[#3]

I just bought the cheapest phone I could find,here, for ¥116; about £12 or €14. It claims to be a Samsung GT-E1083C. (I presume it is, although there are lots of fakes around. For that price, who cares?) It does pinyin & other ways of inputting Chinese characters, and can switch to English. nstructions are all in Chinese, but maybe I can download english on the net. And, like most phones here, it's network unlocked. But I'd still like my Xperia to have Chinese! Thanks

[uliwooly-wooly]

but the X8 does have chinese

[#5]

Thank you.

I don't think my x8 even had any Chinese when I first had it. But I installed something, so now, when I go to Language & keyboard - select locale, the list now incldes Chinese, whereas it didn't use to. (It's called Chinese in Chinese script, so it's near the bottom of the list along with other non-alphabetic languages.) I can tick that, but then all the menus change to Chinese. And I still have no way of writing Chinese characters, for example in text messaging. When I go to default input I can choose many languages, but Chinese is not an option. So when I am writing, I can choose Arabic and many others, but not Chinese. I also installed Google Pinyin, & this is now given as an option under Language & keyboard settings, but whether I tick it or not it seems to make no difference, despite itslist of interesting-looking settings.

[uliwooly-wooly]

to be able to have a chinese keyboard you have to change the keyboard on the messaging app

messaging app -> open any conversation -> long press on the input box -> input method -> chinese

[#7]

Brilliant, it worked. Thank you so much.

Perhaps I should have gone to the huge sony ericsson building accross the road from me in Wangjing, Beijing. I guess they might have known how to do it too. I am going to have so much fun with that now. I would never have guessed it, a long key press. It's probably in the instructios somewhere, but I didn't know about it. It's 09:33 here in China. I don't know where you are, uliwooly-wooly, but most of my friends & family in UK & Ireland are in bed. And you've solved my problem. Well done.

[uliwooly-wooly]

you should look for Handcent SMS app on the market