09-03-2011, 11:06 PM
Apple releases iOS 4.3 for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
Today, (Wednesday 9th March 2011), Apple released iOS 4.3, available on the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad and third and fourth generation iPod touch.
It was first available as a developer beta almost two months ago, but the update is now readily available to all users for free via iTunes.
A handful of new features have been introduced with the release of iOS 4.3 including AirPlay for all third-party apps and personal hotspot support. The AirPlay feature first appeared in iOS 4.2, allowing Apple’s iOS applications to stream audio, video, and photo slideshows to a second-generation Apple TV.
iOS 4.3 also brings support for creating a personal hotspot, another increasingly popular feature among other smartphones and one that appeared first in the Verizon iPhone 4. This feature allows your iPhone 4 to act as a portable Wi-Fi router for up to five devices, powered by the device’s wireless data connection (you can connect up to three devices via Wi-Fi, three via Bluetooth, and one with a USB cable).
iTunes Home Sharing, another iOS 4.3 addition that announced last week allows iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users to stream any of their iTunes media from a Mac or PC on the same Wi-Fi network.
Apple also seems to have relented to user unrest after changing the behavior of the iPad’s side switch. Since the iPad shipped almost a year ago, its side switch acted as a a display rotation lock. When Apple released iOS 4.2 last November, it changed the switch from a rotation lock to a mute switch, without even offering an option to change it back. Under iOS 4.3, the switch will still default to muting audio, but Apple added a new preference to the Settings app to let users enable the rotation lock behavior instead.
Other updates supposedly include making Safari’s JavaScript performance up to twice as fast as well as fixing a number of security issues.
Today, (Wednesday 9th March 2011), Apple released iOS 4.3, available on the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad and third and fourth generation iPod touch.
It was first available as a developer beta almost two months ago, but the update is now readily available to all users for free via iTunes.
A handful of new features have been introduced with the release of iOS 4.3 including AirPlay for all third-party apps and personal hotspot support. The AirPlay feature first appeared in iOS 4.2, allowing Apple’s iOS applications to stream audio, video, and photo slideshows to a second-generation Apple TV.
iOS 4.3 also brings support for creating a personal hotspot, another increasingly popular feature among other smartphones and one that appeared first in the Verizon iPhone 4. This feature allows your iPhone 4 to act as a portable Wi-Fi router for up to five devices, powered by the device’s wireless data connection (you can connect up to three devices via Wi-Fi, three via Bluetooth, and one with a USB cable).
iTunes Home Sharing, another iOS 4.3 addition that announced last week allows iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users to stream any of their iTunes media from a Mac or PC on the same Wi-Fi network.
Apple also seems to have relented to user unrest after changing the behavior of the iPad’s side switch. Since the iPad shipped almost a year ago, its side switch acted as a a display rotation lock. When Apple released iOS 4.2 last November, it changed the switch from a rotation lock to a mute switch, without even offering an option to change it back. Under iOS 4.3, the switch will still default to muting audio, but Apple added a new preference to the Settings app to let users enable the rotation lock behavior instead.
Other updates supposedly include making Safari’s JavaScript performance up to twice as fast as well as fixing a number of security issues.