Users of iTunes with Home Sharing turned on can now access all of their content on their iOS devices. That's important because as digital media collections grow, the limited storage of the iPhone or iPad can become a hindrance. It's easy to set up: Just enter your iTunes Home Share username and password under Settings / iPod, tap the More icon in the iPod app itself, and tap Shared. From there, pick the iTunes library you wish to access (iTunes must be running on the host computer), and just like that, media from the cloud, your cloud, is available on your iOS device.

Reminder: You have to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the Home Share to get access to your digital libraries.

With iOS 4.3, Apple is introducing a few device-specific features that users wanted. For instance, iPad owners can now use the switch located on iPad's side either as a mute button or to lock the screen rotation. Apple changed that button's function in the last update, annoying iPad users who'd grown accustomed to locking the screen rotation with it.

AppleTV, which has increasingly become part of the digital home/iOS ecosystem, gains some nice additions too. Netflix subscribers will be thankful that AppleTV can finally stream movies in 5.1 surround sound (if the movie supports it); and sports fans will love the ability to access NBA and Major League Baseball content on their AppleTV (after purchasing subscriptions to NBA League Pass and MLB.tv, respectively). Even without a subscription, the new channels offer live scores, standings, game match-up previews (in high definition), and even highlights in high-definition. This is huge. Now I can be my own ESPN.

The Apple TV update extends AirPlay compatibility with third-party apps, delivers a slightly new keyboard interface and features updated slide show themes.