Apple reportedly working with professional athletes for the iWatch

Kobe Bryant and other professional athletes are working with Apple to perfect the iWatch.

Apple is reportedly working with some of the best athletes from the NBA, NHL, and MLB to test the fitness capabilities of the company’s upcoming wearable: the iWatch.

According to Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, Apple invited NBA star Kobe Bryant and Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino to test the iWatch. The participating athletes also included a player from the Boston Red Sox, Gurman adds.

This corroborates earlier reports of Kobe Bryant meeting Jony Ive at Apple’s campus to talk about the company’s upcoming products.

An Apple tipster said that the meeting was all about the iWatch. It seems that Apple wants Bryant to test the device in “professional conditioning environments.” This could mean one thing: Apple’s upcoming wearable will have fitness-tracking capabilities.

Apple already expressed its intention to join the much-hyped health/ fitness market. The company announced its Health app at WWDC earlier this month. The app will be available in iOS 8.

Apple also hired fitness consultant Jay Blahnik last year to work on a smartwatch. Blahnik worked with Nike to launch Nike+ Running and the popular FuelBand activity tracker.

Sources told 9to5Mac that the iWatch will also be marketed as a fashion accessory. Supporting an earlier report from Reuters, the iWatch will reportedly have a rectangular design. Gurman believes that Apple will announce the smartwatch this coming October.

There will be two iWatch versions, sources added, backing up a recent report from the Wall Street Journal.