Hi All:
I'm happy to report significant progress toward solving this thread. After a 10-day or so hiatus in my usual web search for a 3g keyboard, I took a shot last night. And guess what I found? A lot!
Since November 13th, our friends in the Land of Smiles have been prepping diligently for True Move's iPhone release. To the point of the thread, Quik Dict (Thai Edition) is now available in the App Store for $4.99, and it includes a Thai keyboard. See
http://www.mobclix.com/appstore/app/299442281 for info.
My wife and I tested it, and the keyboard appears to be fully functional within the Quick Dict app itself (as advertised). Advanced dictionary; not graduate academic level, but as good as the best pocket dictionaries available. The keyboard is not usable outside the app (as advertised).
Based on a conversation I had a few weeks ago with developer rustybrick.com, who issued a Hebrew keyboard app, it appears to me that Quik Dict has done all the heavy lifting. rustybrick.com told me that the Thai keyboard is "much more complex" than Hebrew, so they weren't interested in taking on the development. Appears to me all that Quik Dict has to do is decouple the keyboard and issue as a stand-alone app; and, I imagine there is code to add to make the keyboard accessible to other Apple and 3rd-party apps. My day job is not as a programmer, but I figure that since rustybrick.com did it in Hebrew, for Quik Dict to complete a stand-alone version would be a snap.
More fun and showing that True Move is committed to iPhone release: Go to the App store on the iPhone, and search "Thai" You will find that True Move has issued six free apps for Thai users, all obviously targeted toward providing support of their upcoming iPhone release. As well as giving their customers new ways to spend money with downloads (trust me, Apple could learn a few tricks from Thai service providers about after-market marketing). All Thai-phobes reading this will just love these apps - Thai music hit previews for free!
In a prior post, my crystal ball said we'd see the Thai keyboard in next one or two firmware updates; v2.2 has now passed without it. My refined prediction is that we'll see the keyboard within the next four-to-eight weeks from a third-party developer, which will be duplicated by Apple in a future firmware update.
If we already had cut-and-paste, then a (Rube Goldberg) solution to this thread would be to write in Thai with Quik Dict keyboard and paste to email. Therefore I conclude, it is 80% Apple's fault that we cannot resolve this thread as "solved" (I'm giving them 20% partial credit for posting the App). Are you listening, Cupertino?
