Apple is Giving Select Developers Early Access to the Apple Watch in a Secret Lab

Apple is giving developers early access to the Apple Watch in a secret lab at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, reports Bloomberg. Developers from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Facebook Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc. and others have spent weeks working in the lab on applications that will debut alongside the smartwatch next month.

Apple, which will share more details about the gadget at a March 9 event, uses extreme measures to keep the work secret. Internet access is blocked inside the rooms, and no outside materials can be brought in to the labs with the test watches, a person who attended said. The companies, sometimes sharing a room, must bring in source code for their apps on a computer hard drive that can't leave Apple's headquarters. To prevent information from leaking out, Apple is storing the code and sending it to the companies closer to the watch's introduction date, the person said.

"There's a lot of confidentiality," said Stephen Gates, a VP and Creative Director for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The company is building an app that will unlock hotel room doors and has made several trips to Cupertino to work with the Apple Watch.


Apple is holding a special 'Spring Forward' media event on March 9th to unveil more details about its smartwatch that is set to ship in April.

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