Apple is a fairly tight lipped company, so it speaks volumes when they do decide to speak out ahead of an actual release or announcement.

There’s now a dedicated page on apple.com, publicizing the upcoming iPad 4.2 iOS software update.

There are a couple of reasons why they might pre-announce this. They received some criticism at the iPad’s release that some crucial functionality was missing, particularly printing capability.

Perhaps eager to quiet the mob, Apple wants to reassure us that our demands have been answered.

Another reason is that iOS now being a single product, some might find it strange that iPhone has iOS 4 but iPad is stuck on 3.2.

Either way, the page shows that the coming update will add significant functionality to an already pretty impressive device.