1. An apparatus for inputting Chinese characters, comprising: a keypad having a number of keys; wherein a number of phonetic symbols are mapped to at least some of the keys on the keypad and wherein the number of phonetic symbols that are mapped is greater than the number of keys; wherein the phonetic symbols are divided into vowels and consonants and wherein the phonetic symbols within each group are grouped according to similar readings; wherein the phonetics with similar readings within each group are mapped to the same key; wherein only a consonant portion of the phonetic symbols are associated with the at least some of the keys during a first input, wherein the consonant portion of the phonetic symbols comprises more than twelve consonants and wherein at least one of the keys includes a single consonant, a portion of the keys include two consonants and another portion of the keys include three consonants, wherein only the consonant portion of the phonetic symbols are displayed during the first input and are selectable without changing the display of the consonants, and wherein a vowel portion of the phonetic symbols are associated with the at least some of the keys during a second input; wherein the phonetic symbols displayed during the first input for a key are different from the phonetic symbols displayed during the second input for the key; wherein the vowel portion of the phonetic symbols that are associated with the at least some of the keys during the second input is constant regardless of the first input; and an Input Method Editor (IME) that is configured to receive input from the keypad and in response to the input generate a Chinese character.
1. An apparatus for inputting Chinese characters, comprising: a keypad having a number of keys; wherein a number of phonetic symbols are mapped to at least some of the keys on the keypad and wherein the number of phonetic symbols that are mapped is greater than the number of keys; wherein the phonetic symbols are divided into vowels and consonants and wherein the phonetic symbols within each group are grouped according to similar readings; wherein the phonetics with similar readings within each group are mapped to the same key; wherein only a consonant portion of the phonetic symbols are associated with the at least some of the keys during a first input, wherein the consonant portion of the phonetic symbols comprises more than twelve consonants and wherein at least one of the keys includes a single consonant, a portion of the keys include two consonants and another portion of the keys include three consonants, wherein only the consonant portion of the phonetic symbols are displayed during the first input and are selectable without changing the display of the consonants, and wherein a vowel portion of the phonetic symbols are associated with the at least some of the keys during a second input; wherein the phonetic symbols displayed during the first input for a key are different from the phonetic symbols displayed during the second input for the key; wherein the vowel portion of the phonetic symbols that are associated with the at least some of the keys during the second input is constant regardless of the first input; and an Input Method Editor (IME) that is configured to receive input from the keypad and in response to the input generate a Chinese character. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the keypad further comprises a number of layers; wherein a only the consonant portion of the number of the phonetic symbols are mapped to a first layer and only the vowel portion are mapped to a second layer.