Apple announces availability of iOS 4.3, March 11th

After a month long stint in beta-land, Apple’s latest iteration of iOS — version 4.3 — has been rubber-stamped and pronounced ready for public consumption. Demoing the new code at the company’s iPad 2 event today, VP of Engineering Scott Forstall showcased several of the updates new features, including Wi-Fi hotspot creation, a new Photobooth app, and Home Sharing (streaming audio and video from your computer to your iOS devce). iOS 4.3 will be available on March 11th to all iPad, iPhone (GSM), and iPod touch (3rd & 4th generation) owners. Hit the jump for the full press release!

Apple Introduces iOS 4.3

Update Includes Faster Safari Performance, iTunes Home Sharing, AirPlay Improvements & New Personal Hotspot

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today introduced iOS 4.3, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. New features in iOS 4.3 include faster Safari® mobile browsing performance with the Nitro JavaScript engine; iTunes® Home Sharing; enhancements to AirPlay®; the choice of using the iPad™ side switch to either lock the screen rotation or mute the audio; and the Personal Hotspot feature for sharing an iPhone® 4 cellular data connection over Wi-Fi.

“With more than 160 million iOS devices worldwide, including over 100 million iPhones, the growth of the iOS platform has been unprecedented,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iOS 4.3 adds even more features to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, across three blockbuster devices — iPad, iPhone and iPod touch — providing an ecosystem that offers customers an incredibly rich experience and developers unlimited opportunities.”

The Safari mobile browsing experience gets even better with iOS 4.3. The Nitro JavaScript engine that Apple pioneered on the desktop is now built into WebKit, the technology at the heart of Safari, and more than doubles the performance of JavaScript execution using just-in-time compilation. With the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari provides an even better mobile browser experience working faster to support the interactivity of complex sites you visit on a daily basis.

New iTunes Home Sharing allows iOS 4.3 users to play music, movies and TV shows on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch® from their iTunes library on a Mac® or PC over a local Wi-Fi network. With a simple tap you can enjoy all the media in your iTunes library wherever you are in your home. You can stream a movie from your Mac in one room to your iPad in another or stream an iTunes mix to your iPod touch from the office to the kitchen. With Home Sharing on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch you’ve got your entire iTunes library in your hands wherever you are in your home.

iOS 4.3 includes enhancements to AirPlay, the breakthrough wireless technology that allows users to stream music, photos and video to Apple TV®. With iOS 4.3 you can stream additional content including video from third party apps and web sites, videos from the Photos app and previews from the iTunes app to your TV.* AirPlay also allows you to bring photos to life on the TV screen by using one of the stunning new slideshow transitions, or shoot a video on your iPad 2, iPhone or iPod touch and stream it directly from the Photos app to Apple TV.

The new Personal Hotspot feature in iOS 4.3 lets you bring Wi-Fi with you anywhere you go, by allowing you to share an iPhone 4 cellular data connection with up to five devices in a combination of up to three Wi-Fi, three Bluetooth and one USB device.** Joining a Personal Hotspot is easy and once the feature is enabled a status bar displays how many devices are currently connected. Every connection is password protected and when not in use Personal Hotspot turns itself off to save battery life.

More than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the revolutionary App Store℠ and more than 350,000 apps are available, including more than 65,000 native iPad apps, to consumers in 90 countries. Users of the more than 160 million iOS devices around the world can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.

Availability

iOS 4.3 will be available to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users as a free software update on Friday, March 11. iOS 4.3 is compatible with iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), plus third and fourth generation iPod touch. For more information please visit http://www.apple.com.

* AirPlay video requires second generation Apple TV running the latest software.

** Personal Hotspot requires supporting data plan. Customers should check with their carrier for availability.