MacRumors

Tickets for Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference sold out this morning in less than two minutes, leaving a number of developers with error messages stating that their purchase requests were unable to be processed.

According to a tweet from Red Sweater Software founder Daniel Jalkut, Apple contacted some registered members of its developer program to offer them a second chance to purchase a WWDC ticket. Eric Doleki detailed his phone call from Apple in a blog post.

I pick up and a nice guy tells me he's from Apple Developer Support and that they noticed that I tried to purchase a ticket today and that the transaction didn't go through. I told him that was true. I thought the next thing out of his mouth would be an apology or something – just to be nice.

He then proceeds to tell me that he's got good news – a ticket has been reserved for me in my name and that I'll be receiving an email from Developer Support within 12 hours with instructions on how to purchase the pass. He thanked me for supporting the platform, etc.

Dolecki's story has been confirmed by several other developers on Twitter who have also received phone calls from Apple. The company appears to be offering tickets to developers who experienced a failed purchase after placing a WWDC ticket in their shopping carts.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference will take place June 10-14 at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco. Tickets are priced at $1599.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has ordered T-Mobile to alter its new "Uncarrier" advertising strategy, calling its contract free claims "deceptive."

Alongside the launch of the iPhone 5 earlier this month, T-Mobile rolled out new rate plans, which are designed to separate device costs from service costs. To purchase a device like the iPhone 5, T-Mobile customers make a small downpayment and pay off the rest of the cost over a two-year period, while also paying for a separate service plan.

According to Ferguson, T-Mobile has failed to clearly state that while there is no annual contract for T-Mobile subscribers, customers who cease using T-Mobile's service must pay off the remaining cost of the device.

"As Attorney General, my job is to defend consumers, ensure truth in advertising, and make sure all businesses are playing by the rules," Ferguson said. "My office identified that T-Mobile was failing to adequately disclose a critical component of their new plan to consumers, and we acted quickly to stop this practice and protect consumers across the country from harm."

As a result, Ferguson entered into a court ordered agreement with T-Mobile that will require the carrier to explicitly disclose the details of its contract free plans both through its advertisements and with employee training.

T-Mobile cooperated with the Attorney General's Office in signing an Assurance of Discontinuance (AOD) filed in King County Superior Court today. Under the AOD, the company agrees not to:

-Misrepresent consumers' obligations under its contracts, including those contracts that have not restrictions or limitations; and
-Fail to adequately disclose that customers who terminate their T-Mobile wireless service before their device is paid off will have to pay the balance due on the phone at the time of cancellation.

The agreement also requires T-Mobile to offer full refunds to customers who purchased T-Mobile service and equipment between the dates of March 26 and April 25, 2013. Subscribers who purchased phones during this time period can cancel their service plans and receive device refunds without the need to pay the remaining balance on the device.

After going on sale at 10:00 AM Pacific Time today, tickets for Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco have already sold out in two minutes.

WWDC has sold out increasingly quickly in recent years, and this year in particular saw a massive rush of developers ready to purchase at the launch time due to Apple having announced the on-sale time a day in advance. Previously, Apple had begun sales at the moment it announced details on the annual conference, but with last year's tickets selling out in under two hours, some developers found themselves out of luck before they had even woken up for the day.

WWDC 2011 sold out in under 12 hours, while the 2010 edition took eight days. This marks the sixth straight year that WWDC has sold out, a streak that began in 2008.

With the increasingly quick ticket sellouts, there have been calls to increase the size of WWDC. Apple would, however, be hard pressed to do so given that a major focus of the conference is on assisting developers with their apps and Apple needs to have enough engineers on hand to provide that hands-on help.

In line with yesterday's announcement, Apple has just begun ticket sales for its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which will take place June 10-14 at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco. Tickets are priced at $1599.

Get an in-depth look at what’s next in iOS and OS X, and learn how to take your apps to the next level. With over 100 sessions, extensive hands–on labs, and engaging events, you’ll connect with Apple engineers and fellow developers for an incredible week of inspiration.

Tickets are expected to sell out quickly, as seen last year when they disappeared in under two hours even without advance warning of the on-sale time.

In order to buy tickets for WWDC, purchasers must have been registered as members of one of Apple's paid developer programs as of 5:30 AM Pacific Time on April 24, the time of Apple's announcement. Tickets are also limited to one per person and five per organization.

Apple is also setting aside 150 free tickets for student developers, with those tickets being awarded through an application process with students being required to submit an app they have developed as well as responses to several essay questions. Apple will begin accepting applications for the student program at 9:00 AM Pacific Time on April 29, with a deadline of 5:00 PM Pacific Time on May 2. Applicants will be notified of the results by May 16.

Update: Tickets sold out in two minutes.

Over the past several months, a number of rumors have suggested that Apple will be looking to update its notebook lineup at or soon after its Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off on June 10. In particular, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a relatively strong track record, laid out a roadmap in January predicting that the MacBook Air could see an update by late in the second quarter with Apple's MacBook Pro moving to an all-Retina lineup early in the third quarter.

Reports on whether there will be any design changes as part of a rumored June notebook update have varied, with a February report from Taiwan's Economic Times claiming that the MacBook Air will see a design refresh while Kuo has suggested that the Retina MacBook Pro may also see design tweaks.

Digitimes has weighed in several times on the June notebook refresh rumors, first noting them in late December while suggesting that Apple may cut prices on the MacBook Air in the interim in order to keep sales moving. To that end, Apple did in fact drop pricing on its high-end 13-inch MacBook Air alongside a February spec bump for the Retina MacBook Pro. Digitimes weighed in again just weeks ago, claiming that Apple will be updating its notebook lineup late this quarter, again suggesting a June launch.

In a new report out today, Digitimes claims that Apple's quarterly notebook shipments are expected to grow 10% sequentially as the company works through the remainder of its excess inventory and looks to begin ramping up production again in mid-May. The report notes that this new production will primarily be next-generation models based on the Haswell platform.

Apple's MacBook shipments in the second quarter are expected to grow 10% sequentially as the company has almost finished digesting its excess inventory and should start placing new orders in mid-May, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The orders in May are expected to be mainly Haswell-based models, the sources noted.

Conflicting with some earlier reports of design changes for the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro, Digitimes says that Apple's suppliers have not received any instructions for changes to designs or their equipment, suggesting that the upgrades may be limited to internal improvements.

During Apple's earnings conference call earlier this week, CEO Tim Cook appeared to play down the company's product launch plans for the next several months, specifically noting optimism about "amazing" new products coming in the "fall and throughout 2014".

Earlier this week, we gave a brief preview of Delicious Monster's Delicious Library 3, a brand-new version of the company's popular cataloging app for OS X. The app is now available in the Mac App Store [Direct Link], and Ars Technica has a thorough overview of the new features.

Among the most immediately obvious changes for existing users of Delicious Library is its updated look, which includes the use of SceneKit to boost the realism, along with subtle animation that allows shelf items to constantly move to face the user's mouse cursor.

"We cranked up all the visuals and then cranked down every visual effect so it was something you didn't notice very much," [Delicious Monster CEO Wil] Shipley said. "This has all the graphics effects and polish of a game from a couple years ago. As far as I know, nobody else has used OpenGL in consumer products like this at all, much less the environment mapping and other stuff like that."

Other enhancements include a new stats pane to give users quick overviews of their collections, as well as a completely revamped recommendation engine.

"This isn't about what I own, it's about getting my personality in the computer," Shipley said. "Now, if you scan your whole DVD collection, it provides a bunch of recommendations based on the aggregate of that information. Then if you rate them all, it'll refine the recommendations."

Finally, Delicious Monster has released a free companion iOS app, Delicious Scanner [Direct Link], that will pair with the user's Mac over Wi-Fi and allow his or her iOS device to serve as a mobile barcode scanner.

Delicious Library 3 is available now in the Mac App Store for $24.99. [Direct Link]

Earlier this month, a report revealed that Apple's upcoming "spaceship" campus in Cupertino is both behind schedule and $2 billion over budget. Apple was said to be looking to cut costs on the project, which is apparent in the revised campus plans that it submitted to the city today.

Apple originally planned on constructing a 600,000 square foot area of buildings (known as the Tantau Development) in two phases. Phase 1 was to take place alongside the construction of the main Apple campus, while Phase 2 would be delayed until later.

In order to trim 300,000 square feet of construction costs from its budget, Apple has pushed the entire Tantau Development to Phase 2, which means it will be completed after the main campus is built.

Phase 2 includes 600,000 square feet of office, research and development buildings for up to 2,200 employees along North Tantau Avenue, providing flexibility to address future business needs. Construction of Phase 2 will follow completion of Phase 1. The Tantau sites will have small satellite plants.

Apple's revised campus plan includes the addition of an expanded section detailing bicycle access improvements, which comes with an included visualization of what bike pathways and sidewalks might look like on the campus.

Also notable in the plan is a minor increase to parking availability and updates to public improvements, as well as a new section on Public Art that details four locations where the company plans to install art near the campus.

Apple Campus 2's budget rests near $5 billion, which is said to be because Steve Jobs insisted on design quality and expensive construction methods. The Campus, a circular 2,800,000 square foot 4-story building, is designed to hold 12,000 employees and has a prospective completion date of 2016.

Charity auction site CharityBuzz kicked off a charity auction for a cup of coffee with Tim Cook this morning and the listing, which has an estimated value of $50,000, went from $5,250 to $100,000 in a matter of hours.

Here are our best guesses of the identities of the top contenders vying to win a coffee date with Cook:

owclarry - Larry O’Connor, the founder and CEO of Other World Computing, a company that provides computer upgrade products and services for Macs. "We would love the opportunity to sit down with Tim and maybe get some insights on where the future lies in his eyes," he told MacRumors.

rory.oneill3 (now charitybidder10) - Rory O’Neill, Vice President of Product & Channel Marketing at BlackBerry.

PasswordBox.com - PasswordBox is a secure password management app which is currently restricted to VIP members only and is available on a wait list basis. Its CEO and co-founder is Daniel Robichaud.

USocketUSBOutlet - U-Socket is an AC receptacle with two built-in USB ports, produced by FastMac, so this bidder is likely someone from the company.

stephen.gill.777 - Stephen Gill, an online marketing executive and co-founder of Leadnomics.

BGStucki - Brian Stucki, Owner of Macminicolo, a Mac Mini colocation service that stores users Mac minis in data centers for use as servers.

At the moment, Other World Computing founder Larry O'Connor, who has been actively bidding throughout the day has the winning bid. Prolific bidder O'Neill previously had the username rory.oneill3, which has now been changed to charitybidder10.

While we have confirmed that Stucki and O'Connor are the bidders behind their usernames, the remaining guesses are based on usernames that match up with known people in tech.

The auction, which ends on May 14, will allow two attendees to spend 30–60 minutes with Cook at Apple Headquarters in Cupertino. Proceeds will benefit the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights.

Update: We have received an email alleging that the Rory O'Neill bidding in the auction is not affiliated with BlackBerry.

Update 2: The Charitybuzz website appears to utilize Facebook logins (thanks, Johan!) which means some usernames correlate to Facebook usernames. That suggests Rory O’Neill is not the same Rory O’Neill who works at BlackBerry. Bids have now reached $155k, with Sebastijian Bauman in the lead.

Former Apple employee and JailbreakMe.com hacker Nicholas Allegra, better known as Comex, will be interning at Google, reports Forbes.

Comex, who tweeted the news on Tuesday night, was hired by Apple as an intern in 2011. News broke that he was no longer with Apple late last year, after he forgot to respond to an email that offered him continued employment at the company.

Though Comex did not mention what he will work on at Google, he did mention his disdain for Android.

He added on Twitter that he won't be working on Android, an operating system that he has never "like[d] enough to ever want to hack it."

Before interning for Apple, Comex famously ran JailbreakMe.com, a site that offered a simple way for iOS users to jailbreak their devices. His clever exploits highlighted his talents and in an interview with Forbes, he likened jailbreaking to "editing an English paper… You just go through and look for errors. I don't know why I seem to be so effective at it."

Apple announced its 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this morning, with plans to put tickets up for sale tomorrow at 10am.

Tickets for WWDC can be hard to come by and sold out within two hours last year, but current students might be able to attend the conference through a WWDC 2013 Student Scholarship.

Apple has set aside 150 scholarships for full or part-time students aged 13 years or older. Students must be current members of the iOS Developer Program, iOS Developer University Program, iOS Developer Enterprise Program, or Mac Developer Program.

To win a scholarship, students must submit an application and create an app that demonstrates both creativity and strong coding abilities.

Use your creativity and coding skills to build an app that tells us about you. Your app should highlight development projects you've worked on, your educational and professional background, technical skills, and interests.

Scholarship applications must be submitted by Thursday, May 2, 2013 and will be judged on technical accomplishment, creativity, essay questions, and technical/work experience.

WWDC 2013 is set to take place from June 10–14 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, April 25 at 10 a.m. PDT for $1599 each.

Charity auction site CharityBuzz is hosting a listing to have coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple's Cupertino headquarters (via The Next Web).

The proceeds from the auction will benefit the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights, a fitting charity as Cook said at the D10 conference that Bobby Kennedy was one of his heroes. The high bid on the listing, which closes on May 14th, is currently at $5,250, with an estimated value of $50,000.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett routinely auctions lunch with himself for charity. Last year's auction sold for nearly $3.5 million. The winner won lunch for eight with Buffett at Smith & Wollensky in New York.

The auction covers two attendees for a 30-60 minute meeting at a mutually agreed upon date.

Update: The RFK Center has issued a press release announcing the group of roughly 100 celebrity auctions, specifically drawing attention to the coffee meeting with Cook.

In an unprecedented donation, Apple CEO Tim Cook is offering the opportunity for a winning bidder and guest to join him for coffee at the Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, CA. The experience, valued at $50,000, marks the first time one-on-one access to Cook has been offered on the auction block.