Apple Updates iOS For iPhone, iPad

As suggested by the ever-grinding Apple rumour mill, the iOS 4.3 upgrade for iPhone and iPad released to mobile-device owners a few days earlier than the official 11 March release date.

Apple’s iOS 4.3 update contains a number of new features, including a tweaked version of AirPlay that streams content to an HDTV via Apple TV, a faster version of Safari, and iTunes Home Sharing, which lets users play their iTunes content on various devices over a shared Wi-Fi network. For the iPhone 4, the update will include a personal hotspot, which can connect up to five other devices over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB.

The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, third and fourth-generation iPod Touch, and either versions of the iPad will support the iOS 4.3 update. But not the iPhone 3 or older models of the iPhone or iPod Touch are not.

The iPad 2 cometh

The update comes in time for the release of the much-hyped iPad 2, the next version of Apple’s tablet device. The company hopes that new hardware and software features, including a dual-core processor, will allow it to hold off a tide of rising competition. Rival manufacturers plan to introduce new Android-based tablets to the marketplace over the next few quarters, including an updated version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab and a WiFi-only version of the Motorola Xoom.

On the software side of that competitive equation, iOS 4.3 will battle head-to-head against Google Android 3.0, code-named “Honeycomb,” which has been optimised for tablets’ larger screens.

Apple is also trusting that the massive size of its application store will blunt some of Android’s competitive momentum. Over the next two quarters, the iPad will face additional rivals in the form of Research In Motion’s upcoming PlayBook and a tablet from HP running its Palm webOS.

“Android is way behind Apple in the application space,” Gartner analyst Van Baker told eWEEK recently. “If you are comparing OS features, then the gap is not as significant, but consumers are not going to buy a tablet based on which OS it has.”