Title: Methods and apparatuses for docking a portable electronic device that has a planar like configuration and that operates in multiple orientations
Patent application publication number: 20070035917
Publication date: February 15, 2007
Filing date: August 9, 2005
Link to PDF: 
(25 pages)
AIPW Summary: A docking system for a portable electronic device that can be docked in multiple orientations (i.e., vertical and horizontal). The dock and the device each have an interfacing system, and the two interfacing systems can communicate to exchange data and to power the device. The interfacing system can include contact platforms (with a variety of physical connectors), non-contact platforms (via induction), or a combination of the two. As long as the interfacing systems of the dock and the device are “operatively coupled” with each other, the physical orientation of the device relative to the dock does not matter (paragraph 0056).