I'm saying if you are Multi-lingual... you can map the N900's keyboard for other characters but you cannot actually see them on the physical rubber buttons.

For the iPhone you can get physical keyboards that slide beneath the glass and you can choose which format you need. The iPhone is modular and it's vkb is better than the N900s. I have no problem with the N900s solution but this isn't true for everyone.

You can't exactly sell an English N900 to an arab.

Example: iPhone 4S and the iControlPad2 with Swivel-mount.