Portable communication devices with accessory functions and related methods

#The field of the disclosure relates generally to portable communication devices and related methods, and more particularly, to portable communication device with modules providing one or more accessory functions.

#Recently, portable and ultra-portable communication devices, such as smartphones, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., have grown in use and popularity among a variety of different types of users. As the market has progressed, more and more functionality has been incorporated into portable communication devices. More generally, as the number of different types of portable communication devices increases, the functionality included therein, as well as the demand for added functionality, also increases. Manufacturers of portable communication devices have responded to the increased demand for functionality by incorporating some additional functionality and opening the relevant operating systems to permit third parties to develop additional functionality.

#As the functionality of the portable communication devices increases through effort of manufacturers and/or third parties, the amount and/or type of data accessed, received by and/or transmitted from such devices has also increased. With the increased access to data and the open operating systems provided by manufacturers, security policies are often implemented at the portable communication devices to limit exposure of data accessed by the portable communication device.

#FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a portable communication device according to one example embodiment of the present disclosure.

#FIG. 2 is a back perspective view of the portable communication device of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the portable communication device of FIG. 1.

#The subject matter described herein relates generally to appending one or more accessory functions to a portable communication device by coupling a module to the portable communication device through an interface connector.

#FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an exemplary portable communication device 10. In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device 10 is provided for supporting voice communication with another device, such as another portable communication device. Moreover, portable communication device 10 may include a variety of other functionalities, including network access, SMS messaging, hosting of one or more applications, data processing, encryption, and/or other functions, etc. In this exemplary embodiment, portable communication device 10 is a smartphone, configured to communicate through one or more cellular networks.

#As shown, portable communication device 10 includes a housing 12 and multiple presentation devices 14 disposed at least partially within housing 12. Presentation device 14 outputs information such as, but not limited to, data related to operation of portable communication device 10, commands, requested data, messages, one or more input devices (such as, a virtual keyboard), and/or any other type of data to a user. In several examples, presentation device 14 may include, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, a light-emitting diode (LED), a camera flash, an organic LED (OLED) display, and/or an “electronic ink” display. In some embodiments, multiple presentation devices 14 may be included to present data to a user visually and/or audibly. In this exemplary embodiment, presentation device 14 includes an audio output for use in voice communication.