I believe this year you will have to attend. Last year they sent the Droid or (Nexus One outside the U.S.) prior to the conference, there is nothing auguring to this early giveaway this year.

I'm attending this year again and I'm flying from Canada. No way I would attend just for the freebies. The plane is currently at close to 800$ and my hotel will be probably at least 600$. If I wanted a phone, I would buy one, it's much cheaper. And I would not miss 3-4 days of work. I love the freebies, but they would be awfully expensive if the conference had no intrinsic value for me.