"A few days ago a contact tipped me off to the possibility that Google might not just be developing an operating system for netbooks, but that the company could actually be involved in building a netbook that it would sell under the Google brand name. You know, sort of like it’s expected to do with the Google Nexus One cellphone soon." Is Google building a netbook?
-It's very likely that they will.
If they release a phone (Google Nexus One) running Android, why not a Netbook running Chrome OS?
Find more info about Chrome OS!
Find more info about Android!