Satellite provider DIRECTV has released the Sat-Go, their first portable satellite receiver with an integrated 17-inch LCD display. It sports a briefcase form factor, with the dish, tuner, and display all built in, and can be operated using either AC or DC power sources. It can also connected as a second satellite tuner when you're not traveling, and it has S-video and component inputs for throwing content on the LCD at up to 1280x1024 -- not widescreen, but still capable of 720p. Existing customers can purchase the unit for $1,499, and it should also be available soon at retail locations. Now you can fulfill your dream of watching NFL Sunday Ticket while tailgating at the big game, or checking out When Animals Attack! while actually getting mauled on safari.

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Although these miniscule USB TV tuners have long been available overseas, we're thrilled to see Diamond Multimedia bringing the tiny OTA tuning love here to the States. The firm's HDTV100 sports an attractively small thumb drive-like enclosure, is powered entirely by USB, and features both ATSC and analog tuners within. Aside from supporting EPG, allowing you to schedule recordings and simultaneously playback a stored show while capturing another, it also comes with a "video capture dongle" to grab content from sources other than your trusty TV antenna. Best of all, Diamond's wee gem can be snapped up for just $99, which should give American travelers yearning for a little TV action while on the go little to frown upon.

NEC's new chip design and manufacturing process is going to enable them to build processors small and efficient enough to decode video at resolutions comparable to HDTV on cell phones and other mobile devices. While we've covered versatile system-on-chip (SOC) processors making their way into set top boxes and Blu-ray players, NEC's system-in-package (SiP) SMAFTI (SMArt connection with Feed-Through Interposer) design uses a 3D to overcome conventional SiP hurdles and enable data transmission at up to 100Gbps. Apparently this "microbump connector" will move data around at 10 times the speed of existing technology, making your handheld much more powerful. Finally, we can expect devices using SMAFTI to begin appearing during the first quarter of 2007.

Since we're not electrical engineers, much of that is gibberish but the possibilities are so nice we can't even decide which rumor to start. High-def iPod? Microsoft's Zune/Xboy HDTV player on the go? Managed copy-enabled cell phones for your HD DVDs? Of course the most likely possibility is some cool Japan-only mobile phone (Chinese non-HD n930 pictured above), but does anyone else think HD resolution on a 3-inch screen might be overkill? (Nah, not us either.)

TUAW is on the case, letting us know that the latest Apple rumor is a 3.5" touchscreen-enabled media player. The mockup pictured here is from Rainy Day Magazine. We've been waiting for a widescreen video iPod for a while, but TUAW doesn't expect it till the end of the year if at all. I just want to know if they'll let me download 720p versions of Lost from iTMS.