iOS 4.3 Unveiled at Apple's iPad 2 Event

Apple, along with the launch of iPad2, has officially updated its iOS mobile operating system to 4.3, with features including a faster browser, iTunes home sharing and enhancements to AirPlay.

iOS 4.3 is expected to be available to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users as a free software update on March 11.

In the latest software update, Cupertino, California-based Apple has improved the performance of its Safari browser by adding the Nitro JavaScript engine, which runs JavaScript up to twice as fast as in iOS 4.2.2 allowing faster page loads.

The iOS 4.3 allows playing of an entire iTunes library, including music, movies and TV shows, from anywhere in the house on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch through a shared Wi-Fi network.

iOS 4.3 also features certain improvements to AirPlay, - the wireless technology that lets streaming of content from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to HDTV via Apple TV. In addition to music, movies, and photos, AirPlay now streams video from Photos app. For example, one can shoot a home video and instantly share it with everyone in the room.

AirPlay also allows you to bring photos to life on the TV screen by using new slideshow transitions, or shoot a video on iPad 2, iPhone or iPod touch and stream it directly from the Photos app to Apple TV.

Another interesting feature in iOS 4.3 is that one can use the side switch of the iPad to either lock the screen rotation or mute the audio.

Meanwhile, iOS 4.3 has the new Personal Hotspot feature that lets a user to bring Wi-Fi 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. Every connection is password protected and when not in use Personal Hotspot turns itself off to save battery life, Apple said in a statement.

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.

Meanwhile, Apple's App Store provides a good ecosystem for iOS devices. More than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from 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, Apple added.

iOS 4.3 is compatible with iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), third and fourth generation iPod touch. The noted omission from the compatability list is the CDMA iPhone 4 carried by Verizon.