The New York Times did a review of the new iPhone 4 for Verizon and in this review mentioned that iOS 4.3 could be available on February 13, when AT&T customers would benefit from the Personal HotSpot function of the Verizon iPhone 4 terminal. For many, the choice of this date seems strange because we are talking about a Sunday when Apple normally does not release new versions of iOS. The coincidence means that on the same day AT&T sa introduce some new data options that could indicate that the company would let users use Personal HotSpot and that iOS 4.3 could be available then.
The single new feature in Verizon's iPhone is Personal Hotspot, where the iPhone becomes a Wi-Fi base station. Up to five laptops, iPod Touches or other gadgets can get online, using the phone as a glorified Internet antenna.
That's incredibly convenient. Many other app phones have it — AT&T's iPhone gets it on Feb. 13 — but Apple's execution is especially nice. For example, the hot spot shuts itself off 90 seconds after the last laptop disconnects. That's hugely important, because these personal hot spot features have merciless battery drains.
My opinion is that the New York Times made a mistake when they wrote the article (which has since been edited) and that iOS 4.3 will not come out then. Apple releases the GM version of iOS 2 weeks before the official launch and we only have beta version 3 of iOS 4.3 since yesterday. Take everything with the title of a rumor that has very little chance of coming true, I wrote the article to inform you about the aspects of the launch so as not to get your hopes up unnecessarily.
