An electronic device comprising: a receptacle connector having: a housing that defines a cavity formed between top and bottom surfaces along with first and second side surfaces that extend between the top and bottom surfaces and a plurality of electrical contacts (206 - 206) secured to the housing including a first set of contacts positioned along the top surface of the housing and a second set of contacts positioned along the bottom surface of the housing, wherein the first plurality of contacts are symmetrically spaced with the second plurality of contacts so that a corresponding plug connector having 180 degree symmetry can be inserted and operatively coupled to the receptacle connector in either of two positions; circuitry coupled to the receptacle connector that, when a plug connector is mated with the receptacle connector, determines which of two orientations the plug connector is positioned and configures the first and second sets of contacts accordingly characterised by a plurality of circuitry appropriate to process data using different types of communication signal, data manipulation circuitry configured to serialize a plurality of different types of communication signal being transmitted by the electronic device to an accessory device, the data being transmitted using a plurality of different types of communication signal, the data manipulation circuitry further configured to deserialize a serial data stream being received by the electronic device from the accessory determining the plurality of different types of communication signal being received and to route the different signals to different appropriate circuitry of the plurality of circuitry configured to process data using the plurality of types of communication signal. a receptacle connector having: a housing that defines a cavity formed between top and bottom surfaces along with first and second side surfaces that extend between the top and bottom surfaces and a plurality of electrical contacts (206 - 206) secured to the housing including a first set of contacts positioned along the top surface of the housing and a second set of contacts positioned along the bottom surface of the housing, wherein the first plurality of contacts are symmetrically spaced with the second plurality of contacts so that a corresponding plug connector having 180 degree symmetry can be inserted and operatively coupled to the receptacle connector in either of two positions; circuitry coupled to the receptacle connector that, when a plug connector is mated with the receptacle connector, determines which of two orientations the plug connector is positioned and configures the first and second sets of contacts accordingly characterised by a plurality of circuitry appropriate to process data using different types of communication signal, data manipulation circuitry configured to serialize a plurality of different types of communication signal being transmitted by the electronic device to an accessory device, the data being transmitted using a plurality of different types of communication signal, the data manipulation circuitry further configured to deserialize a serial data stream being received by the electronic device from the accessory determining the plurality of different types of communication signal being received and to route the different signals to different appropriate circuitry of the plurality of circuitry configured to process data using the plurality of types of communication signal.