Tech heads, Apple fans, pundits, and investors have been waiting years for Apple to take the wraps off a smart watch, which is expected to be named "iWatch."

It will likely run a version of iOS, be capable of running its own apps, incorporate health-monitoring functions, probably more. Up until this week we knew more about what the iWatch features might be than any specifics on market entry.

But a lengthy profile of Apple CEO Tim Cook in the New York Times quotes an indeterminate number of low-level Apple employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, as claiming the iWatch will be released in the fourth quarter of 2014. This jibes with comments from Phil Schiller from early in 2014 where he stated that this year Apple boasts "the strongest product lineup" it has ever had. Before the year is out, Apple is also expected to upgrade its iPad and MacBook lines, introduce the suspected larger-screened iPhone 6, and maybe even unveil its radical new take on the modern television set.

Whenever it arrives, the iWatch won't be the first smart watch on the market. Samsung's Galaxy Gear was released last year to dismal sales and poor reviews that lamented its limitations, its weight, and its blocky design. Samsung's already updated to the Gear 2, but public perceptions of the device haven't changed, though it fared better with the fitness-minded Gear Fit. Google's promising Motorola Moto 360 is expected in July, which will also beat Apple to the punch. Does being first-to-market give Samsung and Google an edge? Not necessarily.

So no surprise that all eyes are on Apple to see what they will bring to the smart watch. As with past projects, Apple is expected to introduce a sleek, smartly-designed device that works "like magic" and defines the standard that all other smart watches will aspire to.

Another piece of evidence points to the iWatch's impending arrival. In early June 2014, at Apple's annual World Wide Developers Conference, the company introduced a new app called Health, designed for the next iteration of iOS 8. Health introduces a set of standards for health and fitness devices that can interface with the iPhone, collating all of a user's health data in a single place.

The thing is, Apple has never been known to design software for someone else's hardware. Developers at the event saw the writing on the wall: Health is coming because Apple has its own forthcoming hardware device for it to work with.