15. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for inputting Chinese characters, comprising: dividing a number of phonetic symbols into vowels and consonants; grouping the vowels that have a similar reading; grouping the consonants that have a similar reading; mapping a number of phonetic symbols to keys; wherein the number of keys is less than the number of phonetic symbols; wherein the vowels that have a similar reading are mapped to a same key during an input period; and wherein only consonants that have a similar reading are mapped to a same key during another input period, wherein at least one key includes only one consonant mapped to it, a portion of the keys include two consonants and another portion of the keys include three consonants; wherein at least one key during the another input period has more than one consonant mapped to it; wherein the phonetic symbols displayed during the input period for a key are different from the phonetic symbols displayed during the another input period for the key; wherein the mappings to the keys are constant regardless of a previous input; obtaining input from the keys; and generating a Chinese character in response to the obtained input.
15. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for inputting Chinese characters, comprising: dividing a number of phonetic symbols into vowels and consonants; grouping the vowels that have a similar reading; grouping the consonants that have a similar reading; mapping a number of phonetic symbols to keys; wherein the number of keys is less than the number of phonetic symbols; wherein the vowels that have a similar reading are mapped to a same key during an input period; and wherein only consonants that have a similar reading are mapped to a same key during another input period, wherein at least one key includes only one consonant mapped to it, a portion of the keys include two consonants and another portion of the keys include three consonants; wherein at least one key during the another input period has more than one consonant mapped to it; wherein the phonetic symbols displayed during the input period for a key are different from the phonetic symbols displayed during the another input period for the key; wherein the mappings to the keys are constant regardless of a previous input; obtaining input from the keys; and generating a Chinese character in response to the obtained input. 20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising determining when the input corresponds to one of a vowel; a consonant and a tone.