This is not to get back a lost KB or lost VKB. There are other threads covering those problems. However, I would like to open a discussion how to load a PINYIN input keyboard to the HW KB and/or to enable PINYIN through the VKB.
FOR PR 1.1.... I tried many times to enable the different VKBs with PinYIN like GooglePY through mscim....... this has screwed up my phone many times and I had to reflash many times to get back a usable phone.
Now on PR1.2 I even didn't try. As I need urgently Chinese input in either way (I do not care if HW or VKB) as long as I can do my input in chinese.
Any idea welcome, but pls do not tell me just to install one of the mscim tools if you did not try it out and it works.
TIA
greetings from SiChuan, China

I would like to know too! would love to be able to use a cantonese PINYIN VKB!

Check the emacs for N900 thread or google it, cleanest foreign input option I know of.