"This is actually just a small recruiting event and we won't be talking about Chrome OS at all," the spokesperson told Betanews moments ago, "just one engineer talking about UI design for Google Chrome (the browser)." The implication that Chrome OS was the subject was chocked up as a "false alarm."
Google took down the registration page for the event due to heavy traffic in just the last few hours. It may very well already be booked solid.
A cottage industry in Chrome OS rumors has blossomed since last July, with a treasure trove of amateur Photoshop touch-ups purporting to depict the new netbook operating system, though showing very few real features beyond what's already been seen in Windows and the Chrome browser. One longs for the good old days when relatively convincing smuggled photographs passing themselves as Mac System 7 showed up in one's mailbox.