Apple Releases iOS 4.3 Ahead of Schedule

Apple has released iOS 4.3 a few days ahead of schedule for iPhone 4 (GSM only) and 3GS, iPad, and 4th-generation iPod touch. The update, which comes via iTunes, brings with it the personal hotspot feature carried over from the Verizon (CDMA) iPhone, the ability to stream video and photos to an Apple TV via AirPlay, HD video out, and more.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs outlined the basic iOS 4.3 feature set during Apple's iPad 2 media event last week, many of which are mentioned in Wednesday's release notes for the update. In addition to what we mentioned above, the update also brings iTunes Home Sharing to iOS devices, allowing users to stream movies, TV, and music from a computer running iTunes 10.2 to an iOS device—a highly anticipated feature that will reduce the need to manually sync media to the device.
The update also brings faster Safari performance, push notifications and parental controls for Ping (remember Ping?), the ability to set the number of times you're alerted when new text messages arrive, the screen rotation lock setting on the iPad, and unspecified bug fixes.
Although this update landed earlier than the quoted March 11 deadline (when the iPad 2 will be available to customers), it is still not available to those using the Verizon iPhone. An Apple representative told us after the iPad 2 announcement that iOS 4.3 won't be coming to the Verizon iPhone anytime soon because it had just launched, but that the OS versions will likely converge sometime in the future.