Patent ID: 8718722

Claim:
An electronic appliance for use with at least a first kind of earphone microphone having a plug and a second kind of earphone microphone having a plug, the electronic appliance comprising: an accepting portion to accept the plug of the first kind of earphone microphone or the plug of the second kind of earphone microphone, wherein the accepting portion comprises a plurality of contact points, wherein the plug of the first kind and the plug of the second kind each comprise a plurality of terminals including a ground, wherein, when the plug of the first kind is accepted into the accepting portion, its ground contacts a first one of the plurality of contact points, and wherein, when the plug of the second kind is accepted into the accepting portion, its ground contacts a second one of the plurality of contact points that is different than the first contact point; a detecting portion to detect whether the plug of the first kind of earphone microphone or the plug of the second kind of earphone microphone is accepted; a grounding portion; and a switching portion that, after the detecting portion has detected whether the plug of the first kind of earphone microphone or the plug of the second kind of earphone microphone is accepted when the plug of the first kind of earphone microphone is detected, connects the first contact point to the grounding portion, and, when the plug of the second kind of earphone microphone is detected, connects the second contact point to the grounding portion.