Two days before the promised release date, Apple on Wednesday released the iOS 4.3 update for the iPad, and recent models of the iPhone and iPod touch. Missing in action is the Verizon Wireless version, which already has the included Personal Hotspot feature, which lets your iPhone serve as a Wi-Fi hub for cellular data. Supposedly the Verizon update will arrive later.

This early OS update gift was no doubt pushed to existing Apple customers now to lessen the load on their iTunes servers when the iPad 2 goes on sale Friday. In the past, Apple has attempted to do too much too soon, thus resulting in severely overloaded servers. I recall the year when Apple introduced a major MobileMe update, a new iOS revision, and an upgraded iPhone — all on the same day. Phones couldn’t be activated, software downloads were dreadfully slow, and the MobileMe rollout was one big mess. In fact, an Apple executive involved with Apple’s online service left the company shortly thereafter, and there were apologies all around.

Insofar as iOS 4.3 is concerned, the most important, or at least the most promoted feature, is the expansion of AirPlay to allow you to stream videos and other content via some third-party apps, to your Apple TV. There is, of course, a corresponding update for the second-generation Apple TV that’s required to support this feature.

The iTunes Home Sharing feature lets you play content to your iOS 4.3 device from either a Mac or PC with iTunes 10.2 or later installed.

If these two features don’t light your fire, you’ll still probably want to play with them a while to see how well they do and if they really enhance your digital lifestyle. I suppose AirPlay appears to make a new Apple TV more indispensable, since that gadget’s corresponding update brings you support for 5:1 Dolby sound from Netflix, plus the ability to access a number of online sporting events. These improvements make it quite clear that Apple is planning on adding more services over time, as licenses with content providers are signed.

With reports that the Chrome browser on Android OS devices — which uses the same Apple WebKit rendering core as Safari — is faster, Apple embedded their new Nitro JavaScript engine. It holds out the promise of twice the performance as the previous version. Yes, it does seem somewhat snappier on casual testing, but I gather it’ll require some deep benchmarking with different sites and test scripts to see whether Apple’s claims are true. Of course, if the reviewers don’t use the same testing scheme as Apple, results are apt to vary considerably. Macworld, however, is reporting “dramatic” improvements when using the Sunspider JavaScript test. So far as I’m concerned, Safari was pretty good as it was for a mobile browser.

One improvement that caught my eye was the addition of support for 720p output for HD movies and other content, although you’ll need one of the new $39 Apple connectors (or a third-party equivalent) to make the HDMI hookup to your flat panel TV. Now this is one of the most interesting developments of all, because it basically means that iPhones, iPod touches and iPads can now perform many of the functions of an Apple TV, which basically means you may not need to buy one. Indeed, if you get an iPad 2, the output resolution increases to 1080p, which is better than the present Apple TV offers, although Apple still doesn’t offer content at that resolution. But give it time.

The lesser features include support for Ping, plus a setting that allows an SMS alert prompt to be repeated for a given number of times. Too bad Apple’s left the mediocre Push Notification feature untouched. You’re still stuck with a single modal prompt, which, when replaced by a second prompt, can’t be recalled. This is something the Android OS does better, but I suppose there’s always hope for improvements in iOS 5. In passing, there’s a rumor that there will be an iOS 5 preview some time in April, along with the launch of a new version of MobileMe. Of course, Apple doesn’t comment on rumors.

As far as the Personal Hotspot feature is concerned, it naturally requires an extra data plan with your wireless carrier. If you’re already getting soaked on data plans, though, maybe you’ll decide that using a standard Wi-Fi router, or seeking a free hotspot at a local store, would be a more cost-effective solution. Even McDonalds has them in many cities.

There are a handful of other features, including the usual undefined “bug fixes” that are part and parcel of this release. The baseband firmware, which impacts the hardware that communicates with the cellular network, was also updated. Time will tell whether that means improved connection quality.

I did install the 4.3 update as shortly after I learned that it was available, along with the corresponding update for the Apple TV. As usual, the installation process for both was seamless and without incident. Compare that to the situation that users of Android OS devices continue to confront, which is to hope and pray that the carrier or manufacturer with deign to offer them the latest and greatest software revision. That, alas, is never guaranteed.

The benchmarks are pouring in, and it does appear the recent MacBook Pro speed bump delivers far more performance than what you’d expect from an incremental hardware upgrade. Much of that is due to the use of Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor family across the board, available in dual-core or quad-core configuration, depending on which model you select.

In passing, I should point out that the high-end models are the first Apple note-books to incorporate a quad-core processor, largely because previous Intel parts just used too much power to afford exceptional battery life. That’s one of the advantages of Sandy Bridge, along with speedier number crunching, of course.

It appears Apple also found the right configuration for most of you, incorporating the new Intel/Apple Thunderbolt connection port. It masquerades as just another MiniDisplay port designed to accommodate an external display. But once peripherals arrive, you’ll get the equivalent of an external PCI Express port, which gives you the potential of adding up to six external devices that will in many ways match what you can do with the super-expensive Mac Pro. But don’t forget the Mac Pro only has three empty slots, but I grant that future models will most assuredly get Thunderbolt too.

As far as benchmarks are concerned, the results depend on the testing process. Macworld, for example, rates the standard $2,499 version of the 17-inch MacBook Pro as 53 percent faster than its predecessor, from last spring. Other tests that don’t depend on specific applications as Macworld’s does, but test raw CPU horsepower, rate the fastest MacBook Pros as superior to a Mac Pro, at least the version released last year. We’re talking about workstation-class performance here, and these results may sharply reduce the need for heat-generating and costly minitowers in many work environments, even for content creators.

Sure, you’ll have to pack your peripherals separately, but imagine having a single portable workstation that you can use at the office or at home, while yielding little in terms of the performance you need to do your work when compared to a desktop equivalent. It won’t be long, in fact, before MacBook Pros have six-core and eight-core processors. Maybe next year!

At the same time, the critics will, as usual, point to the stuff that Apple doesn’t give you. Some wonder why Apple can’t add a few more USB ports. Why should you have to lug along a USB hub, and, perhaps, plug it somewhere so you get the proper amount of current passing through those ports? And what about Blu-ray? Isn’t Apple behind the curve there, or are they simply looking towards a future where physical media becomes irrelevant? It’s not just that Steve Jobs regards Blu-ray licensing as a “bag of hurt.” Besides, I just wonder how many potential MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air purchasers fret because there’s no Blu-ray available, except as an external device from a third party. I bet not so many.

Indeed, it probably won’t be long before optical drives themselves become passe. Not this year, but maybe in 2012. But just being able to pop one in would be nice, as in the old days, before Apple’s design sensibilities mandated smooth surfaces without creases.

In all, however, Mac note-books continue to earn rave reviews for elegance and performance even from tech publications who aren’t strictly Mac-centric. They are, unfortunately, usually downgraded for price. The standard meme is that you can buy a Windows note-book for much less. You’re paying the infamous Apple Tax, which may seem true until you do a fair comparison.

Take the latest and greatest 17-inch MacBook Pro. Now the equivalent product in Dell’s lineup appears to be a Dell Precision M6500 Mobile Workstation. One configuration, preselected by Dell in a fashion that came fairly close to the $2,499 MacBook Pro, lists for $2,924, but, with instant savings, you can order one for $2,249. But remember that Dell’s prices change frequently, and may depend on which entry-point you select to check their online catalog. I chose Small Business.

OK, the Dell’s a bit cheaper, but the processor is a 1.73GHz Intel i7 quad-core processor from the older Clarksfield family, compared to the 2.2GHz Intel i7 quad-core Sandy Bridge that comes standard on the MacBook Pro. The performance variation is apt to be huge in light of the enhancements incorporated in the 2011 part, not to mention improved power efficiency. That’s certainly worth an extra $150 by any fair estimate.

But this is how those price comparisons often go. Large PC box makers such as Dell and HP have huge numbers of potential configurations, and it’s very easy to put something to together that appears to smoke a Mac in terms of sale price. But if you attempt to assemble the parts and software bundles as closely as possible, suddenly the Apple Tax is minimal or non-existent in many cases. Yes, I realize that the standard or custom Mac product may have features you don’t want, while others you need are not available. However, I continue to maintain that the only way to evaluate alleged price differences is to compare apples to apples.

It’s unfortunate that too many product reviewers prefer to repeat so-called conventional wisdoms by rote rather than check their facts. They might be in for a rude awakening. Certainly Apple’s customers are still flocking to their “luxury” personal computers, and are continuing to abandon those “cheaper” PCs.

So in recent days, I’ve read one or two favorable reviews of the $799 Motorola Xoom tablet computer, a highly-touted iPad competitor. The TV ads seem flashy enough, and, based on specs alone, I’ve little doubt it is one powerhouse of a gadget. But are specs everything?

Certainly the arrival of the iPad last year upended the PC industry in a totally expected way. Apple reported over 15 million units sold in the first three quarters, but the impact has been far greater than that. The growing move towards cheap note-books, as exemplified by netbooks, was thrown for a loop. Overall PC sales estimates from industry analysts kept getting lower and lower, and Apple was one of the few companies to report rapid sales growth, for both note-book and desktop Macs.

If there is any cannibalization wrought by the iPad, it appears to be mostly at the expense of Windows-based PCs of one sort or another. Maybe Macs have been impacted to some degree, but not enough to prevent sales from improving at a pretty good clip.

The tablet revolution does make sense. You can get many of the functions of a traditional PC in an extremely compact form factor with great performance and extremely good battery life. Many people who might have formerly invested in a note-book computer, as the second or third PC in their homes or offices, find the iPad a superior alternative for most purposes.

Certainly, the iPad’s limitations are obvious. If you want to do lots of typing, get a keyboard. Doing it on a touchpad with no physical feedback is not a way to make lots and lots of words flow. Yet the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen is actually larger than some of the early Mac note-books. There are loads of cases that let you stand the unit up vertically, so you can conveniently work on an accessory keyboard if that’s what you prefer. I wonder if a future iteration of the iPad, with slide-out keyboard, is a potential solution, unless most of us decide to use dictation software instead of letting our fingers do the walking.

Even ahead of the announcement of the iPad 2, the first version became a cultural icon. You’d see it regularly in movies and TV shows, and more and more businesses have found ways to deploy them. Certainly the iPad is a huge plus in the educational world, but textbook publishers have not yet been lining up to make deals with Apple. But I do expect that the iPad (whether the 2, 3, or later) will ultimately replace most physical textbooks in a student’s backpack. The Kindle may make a few strides right now, because it’s cheaper and lighter. But you give up far too many functions, such as the ability to write homework assignments on the same computer. Perhaps Amazon will add more tablet-like functionality in future versions, but the iPad is expected to remain far, far more flexible.

Now if you believe some of the media pundits, the avalanche of tablets — iPad competitors — is just beginning. Over the next year, loads of them will appear at your favorite consumer electronics outlets or online. But to get a leg up on Apple, these latecomers are going to have to devise the correct combination of good design, favorable pricing, and build an app ecosystem that’ll make these gadgets indispensable.

It’s curious, of course, that nobody figured out how to build a successful tablet until Apple led the way with the first iPad. Sure, the critics pronounced it little more than a swollen iPod touch, but customers knew better. But it also explains why the new generation of tablets are fundamentally iPad knockoffs. Sure, some have a few extra features, because consumer electronics companies use bullet point presentations rather than innovation. So if the iPad or iPad 2 lacks something, they need to find a way to add it, even if it’s poorly implemented.

Certainly, Samsung and Motorola could boast of having cameras ahead of the iPad 2. But that advantage ends on March 11. Besides, consumers don’t buy these things based on raw specs. They want a gadget that works, and seamlessly performs the functions they require. That means having enough apps available to actually do something beyond checking email, or surfing the Internet.

Apple’s home-grown advantage has to be extremely difficult to beat. Yes, I gather some developers prefer the more open environment at Google, and certainly customers might also prefer the fewest restrictions possible. But the real issue is whether there’s a rich selection of apps customized for tablets. For now, nobody else can match the 65,000 titles in the App Store. But to attract and keep developers, a company’s storefront has to provide a means to make good profits. If developers can’t make a living from the retail products they create, they’ll simply go elsewhere.

Is the Android Marketplace a profit center? That’s yet to be determined, but when you hear about instant millionaires as the result of App Store and Mac App Store sales, you know more and more developers will be attracted. The customers will benefit from a smooth, relatively seamless environment, and few are apt to fret about the fact that there’s a gatekeeper lurking in the background.

Some day, the iPad — or a better product if one comes from Apple or elsewhere — will be the mainstream personal computer. Apple knows that, and Steve Jobs has said so. The rest of the PC industry desperately hopes and prays for a piece of the action, but you wonder whether, for them at least, it’s too little and too late.

Apple Inc. has a nasty habit of screwing up the timing of the tech industry. On the eve of the release of the highly anticipated iPad 2, other companies are still struggling to figure out how to build their first offerings. Some of the marketing plans are downright stupid, such as Motorola’s decision to sell the Xoom tablet in 3G form, with 32GB storage, for $70 more than a comparable iPad 2.

Does that make sense to you?

This state of affairs appears to turn the conventional wisdom that Apple charges more for their iconic gadgets on its ear. But that pretty much started when the first iPad was announced last year. The predictions had it that the new tablet would sell for $799 to $999, perhaps higher. The entry-level price of $499 was quite unexpected, and Apple has kept an identical pricing structure in place for the iPad 2.

In order to reduce the impact of the second version of the iPad, some industry critics have decided to use the bullet point approach. They will look at the specs of a competing product, and point out where Apple is, well, lacking. The number of megapixels of the built-in cameras are certainly ripe for criticism, although it’s also true that you’re probably not going to use a tablet computer to shoot pictures.

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