TeddyK
on - last edited on by
ElizabethS
It’s not a surprise, given that Steve Jobs already mentioned it at last week’s iPad 2 launch event, but the latest iOS 4.3 update is been pushed up by two days and is now here and ready to download onto your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Apple hasn’t said anything about why it decided to just let it go in advance. Either way, the big new features are Personal Hotspot, iTunes Home Sharing and a faster version of Safari.
The biggest of these may very well be the Personal Hotspot, which is just another way to call it Wi-Fi tethering. Rogers has been boasting about its Data Sharing plans, but if you have an iPhone with a data plan, and an iPad without one, this feature should work out really well for you when out and about.
Apple is limiting the number of devices that can connect to the hotspot to five — three three Wi-Fi, two Bluetooth and one USB. Unlike the tethering feature, iOS will actually turn Personal Hotspot off completely when it’s not in use.
As for iTunes Home Sharing, this is probably one of the most overdue features. Though you could already access your iTunes library using the Remote app on the same Wi-Fi network, the process should be a lot easier now. In fact, the Home Sharing feature is in the Remote app itself, and is turned on by default after you download and install the 4.3 update.
For starters, you can now access video as well. And using Airplay, you can push that content to any Mac, PC, Apple TV, iPad, iPod touch or iPhone.
I’ve also quickly tested Safari, and the rendering is definitely better, though I don’t know that I would go as far as saying that it’s double the speed it was in 4.2. It really seems to depend on the site you’re going to.
Anyone else tried the new 4.3 update? How is that Personal Hotspot working for you?
