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Latest iWatch Rumor: Apple's Wearable Has Third-Party Apps

Apple's set to debut a wearable device nicknamed the "iWatch," and a new rumor says third-party developers are already working on apps for it.
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Apple's holding its next big media event Tuesday, and the company is expected to unveil the next generation of hardware.

We already have a pretty good idea of what to expect from one of those products: the iPhone 6. On Saturday a 7-minute YouTube video was published appearing to show the new device in action.

But Apple's other big product is more mysterious. The company's reportedly been working on a wearable device dubbed the "iWatch," and tech media has been swimming in rumors trying to figure out the details.

Well, now we've got another big rumor to add to the pile: the iWatch is going to run third-party apps.

A report from 9to5Mac claims Apple's new wearable will feature some version of an App Store with third-party apps, and says the software development kit or SDK for creating those apps is already out in the wild. 

A small number of big-name tech companies — the report names Facebook as an example — have received some version of the SDK, which Gizmodo notes is probably "in order to have working apps on the iWatch when it shows the wearable to the world on Tuesday."

As The Verge writes, this latest rumor isn't surprising — an App Store for the wearable makes sense for Apple. "Apple makes a fortune from the App Store, and it's widely expected that the device will run some version of iOS."

But Apple's a bit late to the wearable game. Competitors like Samsung and LG have recently announced new smartwatch models are in the works. The wearable device market has yet to really take off, though — something Apple's competitors are hoping the iWatch could change. (Video via TechCrunch, Engadget)

Although we'll likely get a look at the device on Tuesday, the actual wearable itself reportedly won't be available for retail until 2015.

This video contains images from Getty Images.