Ready, set...go! Or not. The Google I/O registration process for developers was supposed to start April 10, but Google announced that registration will now open next week on April 15 and last four days until April 18.
Google's developer conference is almost as highly anticipated as Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), which is scheduled for the beginning of June. Although Google I/O tickets used to be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, the company decided to change its procedure in favor of a lottery system this year, just like Apple.
Last year, Google I/O sold out in exactly 49 minutes, leaving many developers in the dust. The year before last, tickets sold out in only 30 minutes. Both Google and Apple have realized that the rat race for tickets not only bogs down the registration process, but it also makes it unfair to a lot of developers who want to attend the conference, but miss the open registration window. Although the lottery will certainly get rid of the timeliness requirement, many would-be attendees will undoubtedly say the new process is unfair, too.
Nonetheless, Google is moving full steam ahead with the new lottery system. In fact, the new system is what caused the delayed registration. Google announced that it is still perfecting the system and therefore decided to move the registration date back.
"We're still working to make the registration process even easier for you, and it will now be open four days starting next week," Google's developers team wrote on Google+. "After the registration window closes, applicants will randomly be selected and we'll send ticket purchase confirmation emails shortly thereafter."
Registration will now begin next Tuesday, April 15, and carry on until April 18. Google will then notify the winners as soon as possible. Those lucky few will have tickets to this year's Google I/O at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif., where Google will unveil improvements to Android OS, Google Glass and its other projects. Although no one knows for sure what Google will show off at the conference, hopefully it will be as cool as the first introduction of Google Glass two years ago, which featured skydiving and bicycles.
