UPDATED 07:15 EDT / MARCH 06 2015

Apple's Tim Cook and the iWatch NEWS

Report: Security is paramount inside Apple’s secret Apple Watch lab

apple watch display mockupEarlier this month 9to5Mac reported that Apple Inc. had invited high-profile developers to the company’s Cupertino, California headquarters in order to finish their Apple Watch apps in time for the April launch. A report today from Bloomberg Business not only corroborates 9to5Mac’s claim, but also provides an insider look at the secret Apple Watch development lab and the security measures employed to keep details about the wearable under wraps.

Anonymous sources said to be familiar with the secret lab and Apple Watch development process told Bloomberg that the lab is completely “shut off from communication with the outside world.” Developers from companies given access to the secret lab are not even allowed to take in a pad of paper, let alone a phone, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

Developers from invited companies, including BMW, Facebook, United Airlines, Starwood Hotels and others, have been working “hands-on” with the Apple Watch in order to test and tweak apps that will be released alongside the smartwatch in April.

Apple is expected to reveal details about the wearable at the company’s “Spring Forward” event, scheduled to take place on Monday, and until then tight security measures are in place to keep details from leaking.

According to one of Bloomberg’s sources, Internet access is blocked and developers are not allowed to take any “outside materials” into the lab where the test watches are made available. Apple has gone as far as to force developers to bring the source code for their apps in on an external hard drive, which is then stored by Apple and will only be sent back to the companies closer to the launch date.

“There’s a lot of confidentiality,” Stephen Gates, a vice president and creative director for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., told Bloomberg. Starwood Hotels’ application, which will let wearers unlock their hotel room via the Apple Watch, was originally featured alongside the Apple Watch’s announcement in September.

Bloomberg tallied up sales forecasts for the Apple Watch from five industry analysts and arrived at an average estimate of 14 million Apple Watches sold in the first year after launch. This number is not far off from the 15.4 million units forecast yesterday by researcher Strategy Analytics.

photo credit: Apple Watch via photopin (license)

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