Apple Prepares For iPad 2 Launch

With the iPad 2 launch set for tomorrow at 5 p.m., Apple put several supporting pieces into place this week. iTunes was updated to 10.2.1 and the iOS 4.3 update for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch was released on Wednesday.
The iOS 4.3 update added AirPlay streaming support for third-party apps and speeds up the Safari browser. The iPhone 4 also gets the personal hotspot feature for AT&T users.
In addition, Apple released updates to Safari for Mac and Apple TV 2 this week. Apple TV 2 shows that it is certainly capable of gaining additional “apps” when the update added MLB.TV and NBA League Pass. Though these offerings are of limited use due to blackouts of local games.
On the developer side of things, Apple released Xcode 4, a new version of the development environment used to make Mac and iOS applications. Developers can get Xcode 4 for free as part of their developer membership. Others can now purchase Xcode in the Mac App Store for $4.99.