All you need to know about the iOS 4.3

Overview

Apple is out with its latest iOS 4.3 giving a new vision to the iPad, iPad 2, iPhone and iPod touch. The update arrived on 9 March, two days before the official date of its release and was a surprise to the users. The features offered by the iOS are minor but there are many that were long awaited like the Home Sharing and AirPlay, along with the introduction of personal hotspot feature. The upgradation also retains revisions included in previous versions of iOS 4.x, such as efficient multitasking, springboard folders, Find My iPhone utility, Game Center and enhanced Mail.

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Pricing and availability

The iOS 4.3 is available for free in iTunes for the iPad, iPhone 3GS, the GSM iPhone 4, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch and can also be downloaded from the Apple’s website.

Best selling features

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What’s great

The iOS 4.3 is designed to cater the fast paced generation and so called techno savvy freaks. Therefore, a Safari which has the JavaScript performing really faster is handy for a device more reliant than other platforms on JavaScript.

The iOS 4.3 is loaded with AirPlay video support and is open to third-party apps and other Apple software, including Safari and Photos. The Apple TV 2 users were looking forward to for this feature since long as it promised a means of unlocking, a device that starved off also ending up offering AirPrint for wireless printing.

Home Sharing is another feature being supported by the application and this new feature enables you to play iTunes content from a Mac or PC. The playback appears efficient and robust. But the video quality is less impressive, since it's slow to begin. Not to forget the unlimited storage that will leave you craving for more.

Personal Hotpot is another great feature making you to surely go in for the new update. This feature enables the device to act as a Wi-Fi router for other devices.

What’s not so great

The Apple’s iOS 4.3 using Wi-Fi, cannot connect to more than three devices in Personal Hotspots, but ideally, the personal hotspots can connect to five devices in total and others would need to be connected via Bluetooth or USB.

iPhone 3G (or second generation iPod touch)is incompatible with iOS 4.3.

Battery drain is being reported by the some iPhone 3GS/4 and iPod touch 4G owners. Degraded battery life is virtually seen after every iOS release. There are iPhone users experiencing better battery life after updates. The affect is on both the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 units, as well as the iPod touch 4G.

Things to watch out for

Ability to provide a HD-quality output on a external device using the Apple’s Digital AV Adapter works with the dock-connector port on the iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch, is another element one would look for in iOS 4.3. The adapter doesn’t support system-wide mirroring and can only display videos from applications that explicitly support video output, such as the stock Photos and Video applications and the Netflix applications, when used with an iPhone, iPod touch, or original iPad. The video is limited to 720 pixels resolution but when it is connected with an iPad 2, the adapter can mirror anything and everything, including the Home screen, and supports resolutions of up to 1080pixels.

Verdict

The enthusiasm with which iOS 4.3 should have been welcomed, is missing, but was a hit with the previous Apple releases. A newer major version of iOS, is up for release with the next iPhone, this June.

Very soon, the iOS 4.3 would privilege the developers and users with more power, to an already solid OS. The iOS 4.3 doesn’t work on all existing devices, but the free update adds a few exciting beneficial features to an already solid offering. The update is surely not the one every gizmo-freak was searching for but can still work on till iOS 5 doesn’t hit the market.

Word around the web

Redmondpi

As you may already know, Apple today released the much awaited update to iOS 4.3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. For those of you who like to jailbreak your devices, or rely on a carrier unlock, here’s all you need to know.

Downloadsquad

iOS 4.3, Apple's latest revision to its iDevice-OS, for the GSM iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, has just been made available through iTunes to coincide with the launch of the iPad 2 later this week

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APPLE iOS 4.3