Apple's iOS 4.3 Released Earlier Than Expected

Apple (News - Alert) executives have given consumers a taste of what they want by releasing iOS 4.3 a few days earlier than it initially planned for consumers using the iPhone 4 and 3GS, iPad and 4th-generation iPod touch. The original release date was slated for Friday, March 11, along with the iPad 2.

Last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs (News - Alert) introduced iOS 4.3, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system.

With iOS 4.3, consumers can enjoy faster Safari mobile browsing performance with the Nitro JavaScript engine; iTunes Home Sharing; enhancements to AirPlay (News - Alert); 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.

The iOS 4.3 features were highlighted last week during an Apple press conference in which the tablet mogul unveiled its plans to introduce the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3.

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

At the time of the announcement, TMC CEO Rich Tehrani said, “The enhanced media sharing available in iOS 4.3 will further enhance Apple’s role as a consumer electronics leader and moreover help them gain a stronger foothold into the home networking and entertainment market.”

The announcement of iOS 4.3 happened just seconds after Apple announced its plans to introduce the iPad 2, the latest version of the iPad that boasts an entirely new design.

While iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), plus third and fourth generation iPod touch users can benefit from the new mobile operating system now, it will still not be available to those using the Verizon (News - Alert) iPhone any time soon, according to published reports. An Apple representative reportedly told Ars Technica after the iPad 2 announcement that the iOS 4.3 won't be coming to the Verizon iPhone soon because it had just launched.