Well, would you look at what showed up on our frigid doorstep this morning? That's right, we are now the proud owners of Google's first Chrome OS laptop -- the Cr-48. Obviously, we ripped open the box and got right to handling the 12.1-inch, Atom-powered laptop. So, what does the thing feel like? How's that keyboard? And more importantly, how's Chrome OS looking? Stand by for our impressions, which we'll be adding in depth over the day. First impression: this thing is different.

Mega update: We blew this thing out! There's that video we already showed you, along with a way deeper dive into the hardware and the OS. It's all after the break, and you'd be a fool to miss it.

FLO TV said that it would be refunding the eight folks who actually bought into its services once it made the tough decision to shut things down on March 27, 2011, and lo and behold, it's a promise kept. What we weren't expecting, however, was any sort of monetary compensation for hardware, but it looks as if FLO TV will be providing some sort of rebate amount to those who purchased a FLO TV Personal Television, Audiovox Portable DVD Player with FLO TV or FLO TV Auto Entertainment center. It's unclear how much you'll be getting back -- you'll need to go through the entire rebate process to find out -- but you will be reimbursed for any prepaid FLO TV services that you're no longer interested in using (or won't be able to use due to the March 2011 cutoff). Hit the source link to file your claim, but be aware that your service will be cut within 72 hours of submitting it. Beyond the break, you'll find the full email that FLO TV is sending to its customers.

[Thanks, T.J.]

Lenovo's just announced two new laptops and a desktop, the IdeaPad Y460p, Y560p, and the IdeaCentre K330. First up, the Idea Pad Y460p and Y560p are 14- and 15.6-inches with 16:9 widescreen displays, and come with a range of processors up to the Intel Core i7, an up to 750 GB hard drive, and up to 8GB of DDR3 memory. The laptops also feature JBL speakers and Dolby Home Theater. The IdeaCentre K330 also features up to a Core i7 CPU, up to 16GB of DDR3 SDRAM, twin RAID0-configured hard disk drives, and up to 4TB of HDD storage, and DIrectX-11 graphics. It also has a host of optional add-ons, including an integrated DVD or Blu-ray player, TV tuner, and HD graphics support. The IdeaPads will be available on January 11, 2011 with an $849 starting price, while the IdeaCentre will start at $699 and should be available in early 2011. The full press release and another shot is after the break.

Aww, would you look at that, the iPhone's trying to play big boy games! Following in the well received footsteps of Rage HD, today marks the debut of Infinity Blade, the second in what's hopefully a wave of gorgeous-looking iOS games boasting advanced 3D graphics, if not 3D gameplay. Epic Games has put aside the chainsaw-equipped projectile weaponry of its wildly successful Gears of War console series to deliver the first mobile game built around its Unreal Engine 3. You won't be surprised to hear that it's utterly delicious to look at, and the visuals certainly helped transport us to this alien realm of swords, axes, shields, and magical rings -- where body armor is optional, but helmets apparently are not. Jump past the break to see this visual feast in motion and to soak up some more of our impressions.

This isn't the first PlayStation Move peripheral to replicate a firearm, but the Sharpshooter is brought to you by Sony itself, so you expect a higher degree of quality than from the third-party deluge. And if you're the sort who like to accessorize, it's a pretty good offering. We had a chance to check it out this morning over a brief round of Killzone 3, which Sony says was the inspiration (along with the upcoming SOCOM). Overall, it's pretty light and sturdy. The Move controller slides into the front, and the buttons then become mapped around the gun: RL is under the grip, the Move button is just under the trigger, start and select rest on opposite sides of the barrel, and Square / Triangle are mirrored above the trigger, making it easier to reach regardless whether you're right- or left-handed. There's a cradle under the stock for the Navigation Controller to rest, the butt is adjustable, and the top has a mount for a scope (no details on that peripheral of a peripheral). There's additionally a lock button and what seems like burst-fire mode that won't be used by Killzone 3; the reps told us they spoke with various other developers to make sure the accessory fit their needs as well but couldn't elaborate more.

So, how did it handle? We'll say the buttons were all easy to get to, but this accessory is fundamentally not for us. Having to move the entire submachine gun (or your whole body, as it were) to aim felt more unwieldy than simply twisting a wrist like you would with the first-party Shooting attachment (or the Move controller by its lonesome). Speaking of which, the Sharpshooter is lacking in retro aesthetic, something we really liked in the "1950s laser pistol" replica that came out last month. We get the feeling this wasn't made with us in mind, anyway. Sharpshooter should hit store shelves in February (same month as Killzone 3) for a penny under $40. Looking for something more traditional? A jungle green DualShock 3 is also coming in February for $55. Press release after the break.

Hey, Google just rolled out Gmail for Android 2.3.2, which improves support for Priority Inbox and adds in a couple much-needed compose and send options. Priority Inbox gets some buffed-up views and controls to change importance settings, and Gmail can now send a notification upon receipt of an important email, which is incredibly cool. Even better, the compose screen now lets you specify any sending address you've setup in desktop Gmail, which is a slice of pure email heaven for those of us who juggle multiple accounts from one inbox. You can also respond to messages inline now and swap between reply, reply-all, and forward much more easily. Best of all, if you're running Froyo you can hit that QR code and go grab the update right now since Google broke Gmail out into a Market app -- no need to wait for your pokey manufacturer / carrier to roll out Gingerbread. (Then again, if you're still waiting for Froyo you might not be quite as pleased.) Ain't modularity grand?

Intel's already boasted of its massive investment in a new 22 nanometer manufacturing process, and it's now confirmed that it's new plant in Hillsboro, Oregon, dubbed D1X will be ready to produce 450 millimeter wafers. Of course, "ready" seems to be the keyword here -- Intel will apparently stick with 300 mm wafers for a while yet, but have all the necessary preparations put in place to kick start 450 mm production when the industry is ready for it. That shift promises to both increase efficiency and cut costs by allowing more chips to be produced at a time, but it will likely still be years before we see any actual results -- one analyst speculates it could be 2018 at the earliest before 450 mm fabrication tools are ready.

Well, we've got to hand it to LG for quickly doing the right thing here by keeping people informed and ultimately making the best decision for its customers. Just two days after a Facebook spat that suggested the Optimus series of midrange Android handsets wouldn't be getting Android 2.3 Gingerbread thanks to a seemingly made-up 1GHz processor requirement, they've reversed the decision, saying that "all" of the models that fall under the Optimus One guise (presumably including the Vortex, Optimus T, Optimus S, Optimus M, and Optimus U) would be getting upgraded. Here's the full statement:

"LG will upgrade all Optimus One smartphones currently using the Froyo OS to the next version of the Android OS, Gingerbread. Details of the upgrade schedule will be announced locally in due course. We sincerely apologize for the confusion and misunderstanding that was caused regarding this issue."

Respect, LG. Respect.

Looks like some Chinese manufacturers think they know what the next-generation iPad looks like -- we've seen numerous pictures today of supposed cases all with the same features: a headphone jack, a hole for a camera on the back, just one dock connector (not two), and a mysterious slit on the bottom. So, what could that be? An SD card slot seems unlikely since the cutout predominantly strips away the back of the case, not the bottom edge. Our source speculates it might be the antenna -- if all the manufacturers saw was the aluminum case design, the cutaway could've been made as a precaution, not knowing exactly what it's for. (Then again, the antenna for iPad 3G is found on the top of the device). We're thinking it might be for a revised speaker design -- the cutout is located just above and behind the location of the current iPad's speaker. Maybe we'll find out for ourselves by April, and maybe we won't -- consult your own crystal ball for that one. Some more case designs in a video after the break.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time again: Yes, the Engadget Show is back in a big way next Friday, December 17th at 6:30pm at The Times Center in New York City! First up, Josh sits down with Mitsubishi product chief Frank DeMartin for a deep-dive into the future of televisions and a look ahead at what to expect at next month's CES 2011. Nilay and Paul will be on hand for a raucous roundtable and the folks from Aldebaran Robotics are coming all the way from France to show off their NAO robot. Plus, we'll have an exclusive demo from Ubisoft, mind-bending music from Bit Shifter, and one lucky audience member will be walking away with a brand new 46-inch Mitsubishi LT-46164! Also, in the spirit of the holidays, we'll be doing more giveaways than ever before! You really don't want to miss this one! Remember, giveaways happen at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you're coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you're geographically incapable of joining us in New York City, just tune into the stream right here on Engadget.

The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know:

• There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free
• The event is all ages
• Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM on Friday, December 17th, doors will open for seating at 5:45PM, and the show begins at 6:30PM
• We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets -- and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) -- will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed -- you won't have to get back in line to get a good seat.
• Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away
• You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
• Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full
• The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break)
• The show length is around an hour

If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Sprint is offering 50 guaranteed tickets to the Engadget Show taping to the first 50 entrants who text "ENGADGET" to 467467 or enter online! Standard text messaging rates apply. Click for the Official Rules and see how to enter online.

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We can't get enough of Sony Ericsson's PlayStation Phone (also known as Zeus Z1), and we're guessing neither can you. We were just sent a new video of the device in action, only now it's running Qualcomm's Neocore benchmark app. As you can see, the device managed 24.4 frames per second on average. That doesn't seem like much -- our Nexus S, for example, just pulled off 55.6fps -- but bear in mind, this isn't the final software (or hardware probably), so there's no conclusions at all to draw from this benchmark right now. Just think of it as another nice view of the phone as we inch closer to a finish line we still can't make out over the horizon. Sorry, no slide-out gamepad, but you saw that last week -- don't be greedy. Video after the break.

We're seeing reports pop up that discounting -- some of it heavy -- off the full retail prices of Windows Phone 7 handsets by third-party retailers this early in the game could be a sign of trouble for Microsoft, but realistically, you can't use that yardstick for guesstimating how well a phone (or a platform, in this case) is doing. Guys like Amazon, Wirefly, Simplexity (which runs a number of mobile stores, including Walmart), and Best Buy Mobile regularly undercut carriers' first-party pricing on handsets immediately following release -- or shortly thereafter -- because it's effectively a win-win: they're given multi-hundred-dollar commissions for each new contract they bring to the network, giving them the wiggle room to apply some of that cash to the sticker price. The retailers win because they're earning sales by offering phones for less than the carriers, and the carriers still win because they're pushing on-contract units either way -- and that means they've captured another long-term revenue stream, which is where the real money's at. Popular Android devices like the Epic 4G and the Vibrant (among countless others) were handled the same way in the retail channel as these Windows Phone 7 devices are being handled.

Of course, that's not to say we know Windows Phone 7 is selling well -- Microsoft's Joe Belfiore dodged questions about numbers this week at D: Dive into Mobile, which seems shady at best for a platform that's now been on the market for a solid month. We are saying, though, that you can't use third-party discounting to steer the conversation either way. Call us when AT&T or T-Mobile starts blowing out Quantums and HD7s for a penny directly when they're not tied up in some sort of holiday BOGO promotion, because that's when you have to worry.

Correction: Walmart's mobile store is actually operated by LetsTalk, not Simplexity as we'd originally reported.

It's more than a little crazy to think about, but a 0.07-second power disruption in Japan yesterday may have just caused as much as a 20 percent drop in chip shipments from Toshiba. The root of the problem is that the backup system at Toshiba's Yokkaichi memory chip plant failed to kick in because the brief drop in voltage was more severe than the system was designed for, which has not only forced the plant to halt production until Friday, but may have caused irreparable damage to scores of chips in production at the time of the outage. As The Wall Street Journal reports, it's still not clear exactly how much damage was caused, but if, for instance, the systems controlling the so-called clean room were shut off, all chips inside would likely be ruined. The good news, such as it is, is that there isn't likely to be a worldwide shortage as a result of the outage -- Toshiba plans to adjust their output accordingly early next year, and it notes that demand is usually slow in January and February anyway following the holiday shopping season.

A visit to Sparkpad's website gives you little more than a "coming soon" teaser, but not all is lost, friends: new filings in the FCC's database today are letting the cat out of the bag. We're still not sure exactly how this stuff is going to be sold, but Sparkpad's products are looking a bit like a Bug Labs for larger displays, seemingly allowing hobbyists and companies without massive R&D budgets to throw together Linux-based interactive products that run on photo frames ranging from 7 to 10.4 inches -- and if that's not big enough, there's also some sort of option for remotely-operated displays of 15 inches and larger. The devices can be programmed using Flash, the Lua language, or -- coming soon -- using the Android SDK, making for a pretty versatile setup. Interestingly, Sparkpad's manual points out that this is the platform used by the iGala touchscreen photo frame from a couple years back, so we're guessing that the company is just now looking at opening up the underlying platform to all comers. Anyhow, yeah -- if you've ever dreamed of programming your own DreamScreen, Sparkpad might be the way to roll.