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The foundation behind the "deGoogled" Android operating system, /e/OS, used in Murena products, has announced the availability of the Murena Pixel Tablet.
It is the first officially supported /e/OS-powered tablet in the market, and the first tablet version of this Android distribution, which removes proprietary Google apps and services.
The tablet, which costs around 500 euro (depending on location shipping costs and customs duties), can be pre-ordered on the Murena site and will ship to customers in January. It has a 10.95-inch LCD display with 2560×1600 resolution, Tensor G2 chip, front and rear cameras (both 8 megapixels), 8GB RAM, and 128 GB internal storage.
The tablet also offers out-of-the-box synchronization with the Murena Workspace service.
The e Foundation's announcement also noted that in line with the project's overall focus on privacy, /e/OS 2.5 expanded its set of features to include UnifiedPush, as an alternative to traditional push notifications, and one that is privacy-respecting and decentralized.
However, an app must be built in UnifiedPush standards in order for users to have this option.
In addition to the just-launched tablet, Murena offers "deGoogled" phones, and also a privacy-friendly online service, Murena Workspace. These use /e/OS and NextCloud, the open-source Google Drive alternative.
/e/OS is developed with the goal of using Android's core, which is open source while leaving out Google apps and services and replacing them with a range of alternatives that keep the operating system privacy-friendly and protect user data while remaining compatible with Android apps.
To achieve that, Google Search is replaced by the /e/OS meta-search engine, microG is there instead of Google Services, the giant's servers are not used for connectivity checks, and neither are Google Network Time Protocol and Google Domain Name System servers.
GPS and Mozilla Location Services are used for geolocation in hardware that has /e/OS installed. These devices use App Installer which offers apps both from F-Droid - a free and open-source Android app repository - as well as the official one.
One interesting feature is the ability to easily see "deciphered" app code that concerns built-in trackers and required permissions, which are then "privacy rated."