Edible Apple

In addition to the iPad 2, Apple on Wednesday took some time to take the wraps off the long awaited iOS 4.3 update.

“With more than 160 million iOS devices worldwide, including over 100 million iPhones, the growth of the iOS platform has been unprecedented,” Steve Jobs stated. “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.”

Feature wise, mobile Safari in iOS 4.3 comes with the same Nitro JavaScript engine found in Mac OS X, and results in performance that’s twice as fast. Enhanced AirPlay functionality is also included, and now allows users to sream videos from the Photos app to their HDTV and also, thankfully, from third party apps and websites.

iOS 4.3 also introduces iTunes Home Sharing, a feature which allows users to stream music, movies and TV shows from their Mac to an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch over a local wi-fi network. It’s sort of like AirPlay in reverse.

Finally, and as expected, the latest iOS update includes a Personal Hotspot feature which enables iPhone 4 users to create a mobile hotspot and share the iPhone’s 3G cellular connection with up to 5 wi-fi devices.