Murena, a mobile hardware and cloud services company with a privacy-first mandate, has just released a brand-new product: the Murena Pixel Tablet.
Unlike the standardGoogle Pixel Tablet, whichwas first releasedin June 2023, this new Murena version ships entirely without pre-installedGoogleapps or services. In fact, the device arrives with anAndroid-based operating system known as/e/OS, which is open-source and related to the privacy-centricLineageOS.
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In essence, the Murena Pixel Tablet purges all the Google-y bits out of Google’s own hardware product, and instead provides a user experience filled with open-source applications and an overall ‘deGoogled’ suite of software and tools.
Murena Pixel Tablet
The Murena Pixel Tablet is a privacy-focused variant of the standard Google Pixel Tablet, shipping with the /e/OS open source operating system and without any Google services.
The Murena Pixel Tablet runs /e/OS, and ships without any Google Services
You can deGoogle your life, without giving up on the hardware side of the Pixel ecosystem
Google makes it relatively easy tounlock the bootloaderand flash custom ROMs ontoPixel devices, tablets included. However, it takes some know-how to actually go through the process, and it’s not exactly for the faint of heart.
/e/OS is developed by the e Foundation, and is based on the underlying Android platform. Serving as a fork of the open-source LineageOS, /e/OS hones in on privacy and user security. The full /e/ manifestois available to readfrom the foundation’s website, with details on its development and its various safety considerations.
In recent years, Google has been subject to increased scrutiny with regard to user privacy.
…there has been an increase in overall privacy consciousness among many consumers.
As such, there has been an increase in overall privacy consciousness among many consumers, and a number of operating systems likeGrapheneOSand /e/OS have sprung up to fill the niche with a Google-free mobile software experience.
As for the Morena Pixel Tablet, its $550 asking price is a notable mark up over the $300 price tag of Google’s own listing (sans charging dock). For the premium, you’re getting a customized product without the need to perform any of the leg work of flashing custom software onto the device on your own.
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