7 unexpected places you’ll find Android under the hood

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 30 Jul 2014

Android’s on your wrist now, but what’s next?
Moto360

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wants its Android mobile platform to be absolutely everywhere: your home, your car, your living room, your wrist, especially, the palm of your h. At this year’s  I/O Developer’s Conference, the company made all sorts of declarations launch announcements new places to find Android, but really, it was already featured in some pretty peculiar places.

There are some places where Android makes sense: a point–shoot camera, for instance, would benefit from the vast photo editing social networking applications available in the ay Store. But there are several uses of Android in past present tech that are real head scratchers. Here’s just a smattering of the ones we found interesting, or downright absurd.

Not what we had in mind with Android in the kitchen…
Samsung T9000 Fridge

Image by Samsung

A quick search will conjure up an alarming number of Android-powered kitchen appliances gadgets, though I personally haven’t seen any in the wild.

nasonic long ago developed a cloud-based, Android-powered microwave to help you find recipes defrost food, as well as an Android-powered Rice Cooker that was capable of exchanging recipes with an Android app via RFID. And at last year’s CES in Vegas, Samsung showed off a prototype of its T9000 refridgerator running a version of Evernote for Android. Smart appliances really are a smart idea for the masses, especially those who spend a lot of time making magic in the kitchen, but the price tag on these things seems a bit steep for that extra bit of functionality they offer.

“Kind-of Android” in the car
Kia Soul

Image by NS

Android Auto will do wonders for the next generation of connected cars, as it’ll allow you to simply connect your Android phone effectively turn it into a “smart” car without any hackery.

But before it was announced, Android was already in use as an embedded system in the dashboards of cars like the 2014 Kia Soul. It doesn’t really act anything like the Android you know on your phone tablet, but maybe that’s why was so eager to get out a unified version of Android for your car. 

Android-powered printer, anyone? Anyone?
Hotosmart eStation c510

Image by Amazon

A while ago, Hintroduced the otosmart eStation c510, a printer with a 3.45-inch Android-powered touchscreen that could launch apps, play games, scan documents. 

Oddly, devices like this still exist in some capacity, though they’re not as outlish, nor do they feature a tablet device slapped on a printer body. laroid announced something similar earlier this year, but it’s an Android-powered camer–printer-in-one.

Anyway, with Android KitKat’s built-in printing abilities, there’s no real need for these type of stein’s-monster gadgets to exist. Not that there really was before.

ok in the mirror. at do you see? It’s Android.
Smart Basin

Image by Android Headlines

pan-based Seraku Corporation once demonstrated a bathroom mirror called the Smart Basin that doubled as an “information terminal.” The gadget-cum-bathroom fixture features a water meter function, apps to help with weight management, an embedded “health care” function—whatever that is.

The mirror is actually a reflective display that’s powered by a hidden Android tablet. Either way, it’s an interesting take on the “smart bathroom.”

“Android touch”
Sony N ZX-1

Image by Sony

I’ve had several people ask me why there are no id touch-type devices available in the Android world, but there have been several throughout the years they’re still making them.

Companies like Creative Archos offered Android-powered music players in the past, even Samsung offered its own line of music players based on its Galaxy br. tely, Sony’s the one with all the press for its N ZX-1 lkman, a pricey music player that plays back high quality, 192kHz FC audio files runs Android 4.1. 

Android in spaaaaaaaaace
Android NASA oject Tango

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rhaps the coolest most worthy implementation of Android is how NASA is using it to power its SmartSERES project. You can read all about how ‘s oject Tango, arguably one of the most fascinating smartphones in existence right now, is being used to help astronauts do some housekeeping up in space. 

For better Instagram photos, put Android on a camera
Samsung Galaxy Camera 2

Image by Samsung

As mentioned, Android is a great choice as the operating system for a point–shoot camera if only because of the plethora of photo-editing applications available for it. Samsung already makes the Galaxy Camera series, the latest of which boasts a 16.3-megapixel camera sensor, optical image stabilization, a 4.8-inch D display, -Fi, Android 4.3 lly Bean, coupled with apps like Instagram VSCO Cam it’ll make it easier for you to trump your friends in the heavily-filtered digital photography department.