Have you ever had trouble using the standard keyboard in an internet café while trying to search for something on the web in your language?  Well Google, the search engine giant, is coming to your rescue.  Starting 3rd May 2010 their standard search bar will include a small keyboard button to activate a virtual keyboard.

To begin with Google are adding the virtual keyboard to 35 non-English versions of its search engine, including Russian, Turkish, Persian, Greek, Thai, Icelandic, Finnish and Swedish but obviously (given their recent block of China) not Chinese although Mongolian and Tatar have been included.

To activate the keyboard you simply click on the keyboard icon next to the Google search bar (shown with the red arrow on the picture above).  To use the virtual keyboard, you simply click on the relevant character using your mouse or press the key on your keyboard in the same position as the one you require on the screen. It does not require any additional software to be downloaded.

Google said, “A virtual, or ‘on-screen’ keyboard, lets you type directly in your local language script in an easy and consistent manner, no matter where you are or what computer you’re using.”

Virtual Keyboards are also used by those looking to foil any potential keylogger in public places - like in internet cafes - since the input device is the mouse rather than the keyboard.