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Developers should hurry up if they still want the early registration price as Apple has now extended this deadline until May 9th.  You can find the normal prices at Apple’s site.  This conference, the 2008 Worldwide Developer Conference, will have 150 hands-on labs and sessions, covering the three subjects of IT, Mac, and iPhone.  This event will be at the Moscone West in San Francisco from June 9th until the 13th.  Here’s what Apple says about it:

The groundbreaking innovations of Mac OS X Leopard and iPhone OS offer two revolutionary development platforms for developers and IT professionals. The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is the only place you can receive technical information on these sophisticated platforms from the engineers who created them. Bring your code to the labs and work one-to-one with Apple engineers, applying development methods and best-practices you gain from sessions to enhance your application.

Let us know if you plan on going or if you have any good stories from past experiences.  Sounds like you can learn a lot at these conferences, and I’m sure it’s a great time for all the Apple developers and fans.  Now go save some money!

This Tuesday was the first Tuesday since the beginning of 2008 that Apple did not announce a product. Looking back on the remarks Steve Jobs made at Macworld 2008, most specifically his implication that we would see an update every week, it seems they have fallen short on their promise. Not so. This Thursday, Apple will unveil the iPhone/iPod Touch SDK. So many are forgetting that to count in the week, Apple doesn’t have to release a product on a Tuesday.

So now the question becomes, can Apple really release something on every single Tuesday of the year? In my opinion, they easily can. Apple this year has changed their approach to updates, seemingly forgoing the “events” where they unveil one or more products at a time. Instead, they have released something every week with no prior announcement. Whether it is small, like the addition of a 2 GB iPod Shuffle, or big, like the MacBook Air, or even a price change, I see Apple as easily filling up the year with updates.

At Macworld 2008, Steve Jobs noted that Apple had provided updates every week for the year so far (at the time only 2 weeks). He also remarked that that was only 2 down, and 50 more to go. As time goes on, it’s becoming more and more clear that he was hinting that Apple would be updating something every week of the year. So far, it has held true.

In previous years, Apple updates were big. When a product was updated, it usually had a different look. Look at the iMac G3, iMac G4, and iMac G5 as a prime example. Little speed bumps were infrequent. Since Apple’s transition to Intel, there have been many more speed bumps, but not as many case changes. The iMac is the only product that has seen a case change since the introduction of Intel. The Mac Pro has held the same case since its PowerMac G5 days. The MacBook Pro has had the same case since the PowerBook G4. And the consumer level notebook, now named the MacBook, has been a white plastic slab since the iBook G3 back in 2001.

So why has Apple seemingly changed course? I believe the reason is twofold. First, Apple’s main computer idea is self-containment and thinness. At this point in time, there is no way to keep the specs of any of their computers while at the same time making them thinner. The iMac has pretty much achieved the goal of being “just a display.” Hence the last update keeping the same form factor and just changing the material the iMac was made from. Also, Intel is putting out chip updates much faster than the PowerPC chips ever came out. And Intel isn’t waiting around. They have announced that they are going to actively slam their new chipsets into the market leader seat, by cutting off the old chips, instead of phasing them out as before.

Overall, these updates are better. I like having little speed bumps more and more often. Though a case change is always fun, right now (with the exception of the MacBook), all of Apple’s computers are both beautiful and functional, something that other companies have caught onto but still haven’t perfected.

Apple has begun to invite members of the UK media to a special press conference that is being held at the Apple Store Regent Square on September 18th. The invitation simply has the title of “Mum is no longer the word” along with some directions and the date and time of the event.

Similar to any Apple event being announced the speculation has begun about just what will be announced. Could this be the announcement for the iPhone?

Pic after the jump.

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With the Apple event taking place at 10am pacific time, Appletell will be bringing you live updates as soon as they come in. Who knows what we’re in for, new iMacs? iLife/iWork? .Mac updates? The only thing we’re sure of is that there will be no iPod or iPhone news at this time, Apple was fairly clear about that.

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