Dianxin Shows Off Android 4.0 ROM, Promises Actual Phones Coming Soon

The Chinese mobile startup Dianxin – which is called Tapas in English – has today shown off its Android 4.0 ROM, which is ready to be ‘flashed’ onto a number of Android phones to give users a taste of ‘ice-cream sandwich,’ the very newest flavour of Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) mobile OS. The small company has also said that it has partnered with the likes of Sharp (TYO:6753), Haier (SHA:600690; HKG:1169), and TCL to have its themed Android preinstalled on phones that’ll hit stores later this quarter.

The Innovation Works-backed startup is known amongst geeks for its sleek and swift Android ROMs, and also has a number of other mobile apps and widgets that can be used on any phone. At its Beijing offices this afternoon – and live-tweeted on Weibo – the Dianxin team showed off updated versions of its contacts and battery management apps as well.

The Android 4.0 Dianxin ROM can be put onto a number of phones that have been abandoned by fickle manufacturers without further updates – although it’s not an easy task to perform. At its offices, Dianxin showed off how well the newest version runs on older and less powerful devices, such as the Motorola Defy:

Personally, I really like the egdy, neon blue-tinted aesthetic of Google’s standard 4.0, which has something of a Tron vibe to it. And the Dianxin team seems to agree, as it has left most of the settings menu as in the original. Needless to say, Dianxin’s various apps get baked into its Android ROM in place of Google’s own apps. Its afore-mentioned Contacts app is particularly swish:

The Dianxin contacts app in its Android 4.0 ROM shows business card management (above) and your contacts list (below)...

Dianxin was totally over-shadowed last year by the other Chinese Android-oriented startup, Xiaomi – especially when Xiaomi made the huge leap to make and sell its own hardware.

You can check out the Dianxin OS website – I mean, Tapas – in English, and read-up on the startup’s Android ROM or standalone app.

[Photo source: DoSpy.com – article in Chinese]