Apple released Beta 1 of iOS 4.3 SDK for iPod touch and iPad as well as Apple TV late Wednesday night.  There are some exciting additions to the iOS 4.3 like the multi-touch gesture support which will replace the Home button in iPad, new video effects for video recording and the confirmation that CDMA based iPad is also on it's way! Here's a summarized version of what has been added in the new beta:

1. End of iPhone 3G and Home Button:

Every new iOS release lists the supported devices. Developers have found out that iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G have been left out from this list which could mean only one thing: Apple has stopped software support for iPhone 3G and older iPod touch. You might want to install Android on your iPhone 3G when Apple abandons new iOS support for their devices?
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The symbolic Home button will reportedly be replaced by software based multi-touch gestures. BGR reported that with the Home-less new iPad-2 (rumored to be released in Q1 2011) you will have to tap five fingers on the screen to go to home. Here are the exact words from the release:

This beta release contains a preview of new Multi-Touch gestures for iPad. You can use four or five fingers to pinch to the Home Screen; swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar; and swipe left or right between apps. We are providing this preview before releasing them to the public to understand how these gestures work with your apps.

3. Hotstop (Support for up to 5 devices):

With the new iOS 4.3 beta 1, you will be able to make your iPhone a mobile hotspot which means that you can connect up-to 5 devices to your iPhone to use it's 3G internet. The feature must have been introduced in preparation for Verizon's CDMA iPhone. Even though Apple is enabling this feature for all of it's iPhones, it will remain dependent on your carrier which might mean that AT&T's overloaded network might not allow it's users to let other devices connect and use the internet.

4. iPad 2 Will Have a Camera (Maybe Two?)!

For the new iPad to have a camera, the iOS SDK for developers should have the camera shutter icon that developers and the iOS itself can use to display on the screen. Now when developers discovered that the iOS 4.3 contains images of camera shutter icon, this could only mean one thing: Apple will be rolling out iPad 2 with camera or maybe two cameras (front and rear). The sizes of the images are 1024 x 768 which is the same resolution as the current iPad screen which means there's no change in the iPad screen size or resolution.

5. New Video Effects for Video Capture and FaceTime:

Besides the new icon for FaceTime, the new iOS has added some cool effects that you can apply in real-time while recording the video! This means that you would be able to apply the "X-Ray" effect or the "Tunnel" effect while FaceTiming, cool eh? iSpazio has dug the new video effects:

6. Screen Rotation Lock for iPad:

With the new iOS, you will be able to lock the screen to a particular orientation with the iPad side-button. This new feature has been added in the Settings of the iPad. You can also use the same side button as a mute button.

7. Confirmation of 3 versions for iPad:

We first reported the news that the new iPad will have 3 versions: CDMA, GSM and Wi-Fi. This will address the huge demand of true-mobile-connectivity for iPad. This has now been confirmed by developers who dived deep in to the beta 1 code and found out references for 3 different models of iPad.

(via BGR)