It seems doubtful that this little gadget will drop at today's "It's Showtime" press conference, but for the purposes of my research I'm really, really excited about Apple's multifunction handheld plans. According to the patent, Apple's got a combo device in the works that's a video iPod, game device, phone and kitchen sink all rolled into one. Wow. I for one welcome any device that lets me stop schlepping around a whole pocketful of devices as long as the UI and storage capacity is there. My Treo 650 is a great little doodad, but it's a bitch and a half to get actual content onto it. And trust me – despite the fact that I really can't talk too much about what I'm working on until it's published, I now know way too much about this sort of thing.

What Apple is likely to drop today: an iTunes store for movies, plus maybe a new full-screen video iPod and something the rumor sites are calling "TubePort", which is a wireless streaming video solution that gets any purchased movies from your Mac onto your TV. C'mon Steve-O – screw this bigger-screen video iPod stopgap solution and go straight for the iPhone. You have the patent! Grab that shiny brass ring!