at a long, strange trip it’s been.

Actually, scratch that: ile it feels like Android has been around forever, the open-source operating system that could has been gracing hardware for five scant years, celebrating its fifth birthday on Tuesday. And ever since HTC’s G1 first hit T-Mobile in 2008, Android has managed to spread its wings far beyond mere phones tablets.

From coffee makers to freakin’ ninja robots just itching to sock you in the mouth, here are the most intriguing, eccentric, downright weird places you’ll find Android. ones? ah. ones are boring.

Android fridge

Fetching the milk: so boring. Fetching the milk while pounding out Twitter blasts futzing around with your Evernote to-do lists: Not so boring. Samsung certainly thinks -Fi-enabled appliances are the way of the future, it’s hoping to speed up the revolution with Smart Fridges that include custom, Android-powered D touchscreens.

Don’t start drooling just yet. The cheapest of Samsung’s Android fridges starts at a not-so-mouthwatering $2,700.

Android washing machine

Everybody does laundry, but nobody enjoys doing laundry. Enter Samsung once again.

The company’s $1,600 457ARGSGR/AA front-loading washing machine may rock king-size capacity fancy-schmancy modes, but it’s the washer’s surprising Android inclusion that’s the true star of the show. The appliance’s controls come courtesy of an 8-inch, Android-powered touchscreen. You can use Samsung’s SMART sher/Dryer app to manage your dirty laundry from afar. It’ll even notify you when the load’s done.

Android camera

An Android camera? o ever thought of such a wack… it a minute. Maybe an Android camera isn’t so crazy—smartphone pics do kind of suck, an Android camera would make it easier to slap high-resolution food images on Instagram. It’s like two gadgets in one!

Does reality match the multi-device hybrid theory? Check out ‘s review of the Samsung Galaxy GC110 to find out if Android cameras are more “all-in-none” or “all-in-one.”

Android coffee maker

At least Android cameras are actual things

A few years ago, an intriguing design for an Android coffee brewer made the rounds. More than a mere French ess, the so-called “Appresso” would theoretically dock your smartphone to charge it, play tunes through integrated speakers, make recommendations based on your tastes moods. Designers In-oh Yoo & Bong-yup Song even envisioned QR code-clad K-cups that you could scan for details about your coffee, or music suggestions that matched the blend. Seriously.

The Appresso never made it past the design stages. Caffeine addiction remains analog to this day.

Sentinels from The Matrix

Oh wait, that’s just the Nexus Q, ‘s, um, forward-looking collaborative music player. ew! ople aren’t fleshy batteries just yet.

Killer ninja master

YET. tness the smiling, Android-powered face of future Skynets: RT Corporation’s V-sido x RIC Ninja Master. Focus on the downward-pointing eyebrows rather than the grin, because this robot—which gets marching orders from its Android tablet brains—was designed to punch you in the face. And if you try to flee, the Ninja Master’s bipedal legs will help it chase you down beat you to a pulp.

Fortunately, this amusing monstrosity has yet to become self-aware. Meatbags like you me have to control the robot manually, with one person punching in front of a motion sensor to guide the Ninja Master’s arms, another controlling the legs via an app.

Ninja Master’s a game, not a futuristic battle bot. Think of it more as Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots meets Real Steel rather than the beginning stages of a killer robot army—at least for now. Here’s a video of the Android-powered Muhammed i in action.

Smart TV

Not all squawk boxes are controlled by proprietary, streamlined software like Roku or Apple TV’s respective solutions. The K91 Smart TV that novo showed at CES 2012 runs Android 4.0, opening up your big screen to the gajillions of Android apps.

as, the allure of running QuickOffice on your TV turned out to be not so alluring, the K91 was never released outside of China. But you can convert any HDTV into a member of the Android army with a ‘smart stick’ like the $60 RikoMagic MK802 II. (Those aren’t so good for actual TV watching, though.)

Your local convenience store

7-11 is a weird place to find Android, but thanks to ‘s partnership with KitKat for Android 4.4, a chocolatey version of the cute little Android guy can be found next to Crunch bars Butterfingers—at least on the cy’s wrapper.

3D digital picture frame

Nikon’s NF-300i isn’t your average digital picture frame. This -Fi-enabled bad boy leans on Android to bring 3D stereoscopic pictures to panese peepers, it’s free. ll, technically. Nikon will send you one if you sign up for a My cturetown 3D membership, which stores your pictures in the cloud converts them to 3D. Here’s the catch: A My cturetown 3D subscription will set you back the equivalent of $200 per year.

Maybe this is one technology that should have stayed stupid.

The future of printing?

In 2010, Htook a walk on the wild side with the HotoSmart eStation, a pretty decent printer that stood out because its touchscreen controls were plopped on a 7-inch Android 2.1 tablet—a tablet that could be detached used as a separate slate or e-reader. Android printers have yet to take off, though. (Maybe the sluggish TouchSmart UI Htossed on the device had something to do with it.)

Universal remote, I mean universal

Conspin’s $350 Andi-One was pitched as a universal TV remote, but Android 2.1 helped this hardware do much more. Beyond controlling up to 50 devices via RF, infra-red, -Fi, the Andi-One ran more than 100,00 Android apps, controlled your HT’s keyboard mouse, browsed the b, juggled email, more. You could even use it as a basic VoIhset.

The jack of all trades approach doesn’t appear to have worked, though. Andi-One’s webpage lies dead as a doorknob.

Retail point-of-sale units

Image: Casio

Android is exping into the business sector, too. The small footprint low power needs of ‘s operating system is perfect for simple digital signage boxes, retailers can even buy Android-powered point-of-sale systems for hling transactions. t’s hope they’re a bit more hardened than your average Android smartphone.

The Android of the future

Yes, Android is more than your average mobile OS. But Android is still a relative newcomer with a vast sea of possibilities lying ahead. st imagine…