A great move forward by Google and a great new tool for all polyglots who have found difficulties in the past searching for sites in a non-Latin text simply because they have the wrong keyboard. Now help is at hand: Google has added a virtual keyboard to 35 Google search pages that use non-Latin script or use letters with slight variations on the standard Latin script.
This means that if you want to search for a Thai website (for example) then you go to Google.co.th and click on the keyboard icon next to the search bar. This will bring up a virtual keyboard with Thai letters so you can type for the URL using the Thai alphabet. You can type the words in either using your mouse on the virtual keyboard or hitting the corresponding keys on your own keyboard. Saves you buying a whole new keyboard. It is an excellent idea and actually works. It includes the entire alphabet and utilizes the shift and control functions to reach second level letters.
Google says it will expand the number of languages used depending on the feedback from the public. I am sure all of the feedback will be positive as making life easier for language mixing is always a good thing.
The internet is set for the biggest single change in its 40 year history: ICANN, the non-profit organisation that governs domain names, is considering the move to allow website domain names (the actual name of the site) to be available in non-Latin script. This will open up the internet to a huge global market that was hitherto untapped and allow the emergence of new websites whose monikers could use non-Latin letters such as Japanese, Arabic, Korean, or Thai.
