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Apple has released the iOS 4.3 OS update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, adding AirPlay support for third-party applications and a new personal Wi-Fi hotspot feature.
Among the updates is a new Nitro JavaScript engine for the Safari browser which promises much faster performance for web applications. Sunspider benchmarks have since appeared showing a greater than two fold speed boost.
iOS 4.3 gives the iPhone 4 the ability to act as a personal Wi-Fi access point for tethering other Wi-Fi capable devices. The feature counts as tethering so it’s subject to the feature being available per operator and is generally a chargable service.
Other features include AirPlay enabling the transmission of videos from the camera of iPhones and iPhone Touches to Apple TV devices. The enhanced AirPlay support also adds the ability of third party applications to stream content to Apple TV, a feature expected to be greeted with widespread support in iOS media apps.
The update also enables iOS devices to share iTunes collections, with streaming over Wi-Fi from a host PC or Mac negating the need to copy songs to the device.
Owners of older generation iPods and iPhones will sadly lose out with iOS 4.3 being limited to third-generation iPhone Touches and later as well as the iPhone 3GS and later.
The update is now available on iTunes for Apple device owners. Apple has more on the iOS site.
