Language input interface on a device

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for inputting text. A virtual keyboard is presented in a first region of a touch sensitive display of a device. An input representing a phonetic string is received on the virtual keyboard. The entered phonetic string is presented in a second region of the touch sensitive display. One or more candidates are identified based on the phonetic string. At least a subset of the candidates is presented. An input selecting one of the candidates is received. The entered phonetic string is replaced with the selected candidate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 presenting a virtual keyboard corresponding to a first alphabet in a first region of a touch-sensitive display of a device;   receiving an input on the virtual keyboard representing a phonetic string;   presenting the phonetic string in a second region of the touch-sensitive display;   identifying one or more candidate representations based on the phonetic string, wherein the candidate representations correspond to a second alphabet different from the first alphabet;   presenting a candidate tray including at least a subset of the candidate representations;   receiving an input of a selected candidate representation of the candidate representations; and   replacing the entered phonetic string with the selected candidate representation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the phonetic string comprises Chinese romanization; and   the candidate representations comprise Chinese characters.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the phonetic string comprises Japanese romanization; and   the candidate representations comprise one or more of the group consisting of Japanese kanji characters and Japanese kana symbols.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual keyboard comprises keys corresponding to letters of the Latin alphabet. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the candidate representations comprise multi-character words. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying one or more candidate representations based on the phonetic string comprises identifying one or more candidate representations using text prediction from the phonetic string. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein presenting at least a subset of the candidate representations comprises presenting the subset of the candidate representations in an order determined based on the text prediction. 
     
     
         8 . A portable device comprising:
 a touch-sensitive display;   memory;   one or more processors; and   instructions stored in the memory and configured for execution by the one or more processors, the instructions comprising instructions to:
 present a virtual keyboard corresponding to a first alphabet in a first region of the touch-sensitive display of a device; 
 receive an input on the virtual keyboard representing a phonetic string; 
 present the phonetic string in a second region of the touch-sensitive display; 
 identify one or more candidate representations based on the phonetic string, wherein the candidate representations correspond to a second alphabet different from the first alphabet; 
 present a candidate tray including at least a subset of the candidate representations; 
 receive an input of a selected candidate representation of the candidate representations; and 
 replace the entered phonetic string with the selected candidate representation. 
   
     
     
         9 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product, encoded on a tangible program carrier, operable to cause a portable device to perform operations comprising:
 presenting a virtual keyboard corresponding to a first alphabet in a first region of a touch-sensitive display of a device;   receiving an input on the virtual keyboard representing a phonetic string;   presenting the phonetic string in a second region of the touch-sensitive display;   identifying one or more candidate representations based on the phonetic strings wherein the candidate representations correspond to a second alphabet different from the first alphabet;   presenting a candidate tray including at least a subset of the candidate representations;   receiving of a selected candidate representation of the candidate representations; and   replacing the entered phonetic string with the selected candidate representation.   
     
     
         16 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A method comprising:
 presenting a virtual keyboard corresponding to a first alphabet in a first region of a touch-sensitive display of a device;   receiving an input on the virtual keyboard representing a phonetic string;   presenting the phonetic string in a second region of the touch-sensitive display;   identifying one or more candidate representations based on the phonetic string, wherein the candidate representations correspond to a second alphabet different from the first alphabet;   presenting at least a subset of the candidate representations inline with the phonetic string in the second region, where the candidate representations are displayed according to an orientation of text in the second region;   receiving an input selecting one of the candidate representations; and   replacing the entered phonetic string with the selected candidate representation.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the candidate tray further includes the phonetic string. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second alphabet comprises logographic characters. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the candidate tray is presented in place of the virtual keyboard. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the candidate tray comprises presenting the candidate tray in the second region of the touch-sensitive display. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein replacing the entered phonetic string comprises replacing the entered phonetic string in the second region of the touch-sensitive display. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the candidate tray comprises presenting the candidate tray adjacent to the phonetic string. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the candidate tray comprises presenting the candidate tray adjacent to the phonetic string in the second region. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an input on the virtual keyboard representing a second phonetic string;   presenting the second phonetic string in the second region of the touch-sensitive display; and   receiving an input confirming the second phonetic string.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting an option to expand the candidate tray to include a larger subset of the candidate representations.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a confirm key.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the received input of a selected candidate representation comprises a number of hits to the confirm key in succession. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein each of the candidate representations presented in the candidate tray corresponds to a different number of hits of the confirm key. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing an option of replacing the virtual keyboard in the first region with at least a subset of the candidate representations.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing an option of presenting a different subset of the candidate representations in the candidate tray.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the phonetic string in the second region comprises:
 displaying the phonetic string using a phonetic representation different from the first alphabet.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a visual indicator that identifies the presented phonetic string as a provisional input.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein presenting the candidate tray comprises:
 presenting the subset of candidate representations according to a text orientation associated with the second alphabet.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the text orientation comprises a left to right orientation. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the text orientation comprises a right to left orientation. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the text orientation comprises a top to bottom orientation. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting a next candidate key configured to allow a user to select a next candidate of the one or more candidate representations.   
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting a previous candidate key configured to allow a user to select a previous candidate of the one or more candidate representations.   
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein presenting the subset of candidate representations comprises presenting a candidate tray in the second region of the touch-sensitive display. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein replacing the entered phonetic string comprises replacing the entered phonetic string in the second region of the touch-sensitive display. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein presenting the subset of the candidate representations comprises presenting the candidate representations adjacent to the phonetic string. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein presenting the subset of candidate representations comprises presenting the candidate representations adjacent to the phonetic string in the second region. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 receiving an input on the virtual keyboard representing second phonetic string;   presenting the second phonetic string in the second region of the touch-sensitive display; and   receiving an input confirming the second phonetic string.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 presenting an option to expand the subset of the candidate representations.   
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 providing a confirm key.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the received input of a selected candidate representation comprises a number of hits to the confirm key in succession. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein each of the candidate representations corresponds to a different number of hits of the confirm key. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 providing an option of replacing the virtual keyboard in the first region with at least a subset of the candidate representations.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 providing an option of presenting a different subset of the candidate representations.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein presenting the phonetic string in the second region comprises:
 displaying the phonetic string using a phonetic representation different from the first alphabet.   
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 displaying a visual indicator that identifies the presented phonetic string as a provisional input.   
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the orientation of text comprises a left to right orientation. 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the orientation of text comprises a right to left orientation. 
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the orientation of text comprises a top to bottom orientation. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 presenting a next candidate key configured to allow a user to select a next candidate of the one or more candidate representations.   
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 presenting a previous candidate key configured to allow a user to select a previous candidate of the one or more candidate representations.