Patent ID: 8773845

Claim:
A docking station comprising: a frusto-conical base having a bottom surface for resting on a flat surface, a central axis transverse to the bottom surface, and a frusto-conical side surface that is substantially symmetrical about the central axis, wherein a tangent to the frusto-conical side surface of the base and intersecting the central axis forms a first fixed acute angle with the central axis; the base comprises a main body including the bottom surface and a head that is coaxial with and mounted on the main body opposite the bottom surface, and the base includes a bearing rotationally connecting the main body to the head so that the head may rotate freely with respect to the main body about the central axis; a support rotatably mounted on the head for releasably holding a media player on the docking station, wherein the support lies substantially in a plane that forms substantially the first fixed acute angle with the central axis, the support rotates about a rotational axis that is fixed in position with respect to the head so that a media player mounted on the support can be selectively rotated between landscape and portrait orientations, the rotational axis intersects the central axis, and the rotational axis forms a second fixed acute angle with the central axis; an operating circuit located within the base for amplifying an audio signal received from a media player mounted on the docking station; and a speaker within the base and electrically connected to the operating circuit for reproducing sound based on the audio signal amplified by the operating circuit.