An interchangeable cover is endowed with one or more I/O ports and complementary
electronics to add the one or more I/O ports to a mobile device, to which the interchangeable
cover is attached. In various embodiments, the I/O ports may comprise a PS/2 mouse
port, a serial port, a parallel port, a serial bus port, and so forth. In various
embodiments, the complementary electronics are packaged in an ASIC with output
pins similar to that of a smart card, which may include a properly equipped protocol
processor for de-packaging and packaging data being inputted/outputted in accordance
with selected I/O protocols. In one embodiment, the cover is U-shaped. In a wireless
mobile phone embodiment, the cover is attached to a rotabable sub-section of a
pivotable section.
