Patent ID: 7050306

Claim:
An apparatus for adding functionality to a portable electronic device, comprising: a housing having an interior portion, said housing sized to be received by a housing port of a portable electronic device, said housing port disposed within an interior portion of the portable electronic device; and a hardware interface connector disposed within the interior portion of the housing and in connection with a hardware interface port disposed within the housing port of the portable electronic device, wherein at least a portion of the housing is disposed within the interior portion of the portable electronic device when the hardware interface connector is in connection with the hardware interface port, the hardware interface connector having between 1 and 120 receptacles, the hardware interface port having 120 pins, said receptacles configured to correspond to a pin in the hardware interface port, said receptacles further forming two rows in parallel such that each receptacle is positioned to be numbered corresponding to its position in one of the rows, wherein one of the two rows includes receptacle positions 1 through 60 , the other of the two rows includes receptacle positions 61 through 120 , receptacle positions 1 and 61 being located at corresponding ends of each row, receptacle positions 60 and 120 being located at opposite ends of each row, receptacle positions 1 and 120 being located at opposite ends of each row, and receptacle positions 60 and 61 being located at opposite ends of each row; and securing means for securing said portable electronic device to said housing.