When it comes to China, the country has its own version of Google that mimics some of the company’s services, like a search engine, a mobile platform (which admittedly is based off Android) and a cloud service of their own in response to the recently launched Google Drive and other cloud storage services. Perhaps looking to give residents in China to rely more on their services and less on Google’s (although some of their services is blocked in China), Baidu has since released a ROM that will replace Google’s services on their mobile phones.
According to the company, this ROM would allow users to “Baiduize” their phone and give them a “richer, more social, more personalised experience.” The ROM will also provide users access to Baidu’s range of services in place of Google’s, such as Baidu Wangpan (Baidu’s version of Google Drive), music, maps, apps and even a photo album site of their own dubbed Baidu Xiangce. At the moment the ROM appears to support only the Nexus S but is expected to cover Android 4.0 phones in due time. Unfortunately the ROM is a little complicated to install and requires sideloading via a USB connection, so for those who are not too tech savvy, this might prove slightly tricky. However if sideloading is a walk in the park for you and you know how to read Mandarin, the ROM is currently available via Baidu’s website although its official announcement is set for next week.