Patent ID: 9659577
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: G10L,H04R

Claim:
1. A device comprising: a housing comprising a cylindrical-shaped middle section extending between a top end and a base end along a center axis, the middle section having an outer surface at a radius from the center axis; one or more microphones arranged proximal to the top end of the housing to receive audio; a processor to process a signal representation of the audio; memory accessible by the processor; a network interface to communicate with a network; one or more speakers arranged proximal to the base end of the housing to output audio sound; a control knob rotatably mounted proximal to the top end of the housing to rotate about the center axis, the control knob having an outer surface at approximately the radius from the center axis so that the outer surface of the control knob is substantially vertically flush with the outer surface of the cylindrical-shaped middle section of the housing; a rotary transducer to convert rotation of the control knob into a control signal for use in controlling one or more functions of the device; and a light conducting pipe mounted around an exterior peripheral edge of the outer surface of the control knob, the light conducting pipe being configured to display light external to the device in different appearance states corresponding to the one or more functions controlled by rotation of the control knob.