Apple releases iOS 4.3

Well, it's not March 11th, but you can now download iOS 4.3 for you iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (most of them, anyway). That, of course, brings with it mobile hotspot functionality for iPhones, along with a variety of new AirPlay features, a new and improved version of Safari, and a number of other more minor improvements and fixes (like an option to control how your iPad's side switch behaves). We're already busy testing it out ourselves and will report back on what we find, but you can feel free to leave your own first impressions in the comments below in the meantime -- Apple's complete list of what's included in the update is after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

About iOS 4.3 Software Update

This update contains new features and improvements, including the following:

• Personal Hotspot*
  Share iPhone 4 cellular data connection with up to 5 devices (combination of up to 3 Wi-Fi, 3 Bluetooth, and 1 USB)
• iTunes Home Sharing
  Play music, movies and TV shows from a shared iTunes library on a Mac or PC (requires iTunes 10.2)
• New AirPlay features**
  Play videos from the Photos app including the Camera Roll album, iTunes previews, enabled third-party apps and websites on Apple TV
  Play slideshows from Photos on Apple TV using transitions available on Apple TV
• Faster Safari performance with Apple Nitro JavaScript engine
• HD video out using the Apple Digital AV Adapter***
  View 720p HD videos from Videos app, iPod app, Photos, YouTube, Safari, Keynote, and enabled third-party apps on an HDMI display
• Ping features
  Push notifications for comments and follow requests
  Post and Like songs directly from the Now Playing screen
  Parental controls
• New Settings
  Messages setting for number of times to repeat an alert
  iPad side switch setting to lock screen rotation or mute audio notifications and sound effects
  Single tap conference call dialing with a pause to send a passcode
• Bug fixes

*Requires iPhone 4 with tethering data plan
**Requires Apple TV (2nd generation) running software version 4.2 or later
***iPhone 4, iPad, iPod touch (4th generation)

For information on the security content of this update, please visit:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

This update is available via iTunes.