Apple has paid $8B to developers, Cook says

The amount of money Apple has paid to developers continues to soar, with the company having already distributed $8 billion to app makers, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said today.Cook, speaking during a Goldman Sachs conference, said Apple has "enormous momentum" in the smartphone market, and a big reason for that is the ecosystem around the company's devices."We built an ecosystem that is the best customer experience on the planet," Cook said.The $8 billion compares to Apple's comments in January that the developers had made more than $7 billion from Apple's App Store. At that time, the company also noted that its store topped 40 billion downloads, with almost half coming in 2012. One of the key advantages Apple has over rivals is the number of apps available in its online store. A healthy app ecosystem can make or break an operating system, and keeping developers happy in terms of the money they're making is key. "You don't see a lot of people doing PC apps," Cook said today. "The innovation has all moved to tablets and smartphones."

Apple giving some a second run at WWDC tickets

Apple is giving some developers a second chance at purchasing tickets to its annual developers conference, which sold out in just two minutes on Thursday.The company has been getting in touch with what appears to be a handful of developers who attempted to make purchases when the $1,599 tickets for Apple's WWDC went on sale at 10 a.m. PT, MacRumors reports. Those developers have a ticket reserved for them, and will be able to make the purchase at a later date.Related storiesApple's WWDC 2013 sells out in two minutesBidding for coffee with Apple's CEO hits $210,000The purchasing window, which spanned about two hours last year, was brief enough that some could not even enter their payment information before the tickets were snapped up. Several developers also complained about receiving errors when attempting to make purchases, with so many descending on Apple's site all at once. Apple has said it will show off new versions of iOS and OS X at this year's confab, which hosts about 5,000 developer attendees as well as press and partners. The show runs June 10-14 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.