TIM is a Thai Input Method for the Zaurus.

The Zaurus is a great PDA for every day use but by default it comes only with Japanese and Roman letter input methods. QT/embedded, the main GUI system used on Zaurus can easily use plugin methods for virtual keyboards, handwriting recognition etc.

I tried using the Unicode input method to type in Thai but as you can see from the screenshot above, it has some shortcomings: the input method doesn't know that Thai tone markers, some diacritics and some vowels must be rendered above the previous letter (these are what Unicode calls Nonspacing Marks). The plugin should render an extra letter first because there is no consonant to combine these characters with. Therefore half the vowels ("sara") cannot be seen. Besides, Unicode character order does not necessarily organise the letters in a helpful layout. I decided to write a virtual Thai keyboard to make it easy to enter Thai text.

Screenshots

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  TIM on an SL-5500

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  Entering a new task on an SL-C750

Download

• tim_1.0.1_arm.ipk

The installation includes a Thai font in normal and rotated formats. This means that you can immediately use TIM with applications where you can select the font.

TIM has been tested on the SL-5500, SL-C700, SL-C750 and SL-C3100.