As expected, late yesterday Apple released a new update for iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. This update, dubbed iOS 4.3.3 for AT&T and iOS 4.2.8 for Verizon, addresses the dreaded “Location Gate” issue that has been in the news the last few weekes.

Specifically, it makes changes to how the device stores and manages the “iOS crowd-sourced location database cache.” It also reduces the size of the cache, doesn’t back it up to iTunes and deletes the cache when you disable Location Services.

The updates are available right now. Simply connect your i-device to iTunes and you will be prompted to perform the update.

We’ve updated our devices here at The Flickcast offices. So far, so good. Although, we are still waiting to see if this improves our battery life that seemed to go down after the last update.

Let’s hope so.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with current iPhone location tracking events, it was recently revealed that cellular iOS devices such as the iPhone and 3G enabled iPad collect location data from where you are and store it in an unencrypted file on the device.

However, according to an email purported to be from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Apple does not track anyone. Android, however, does. Here’s the exchange, according to a MacRumors reader:

Q: Steve,

Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.

A: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.

Sent from my iPhone

So, if this is really from Steve Jobs and you have a cellular iOS device, I guess you don’t need to worry about Apple tracking your every move. If you’ve got an Android-powered device, I guess you’re not out of the woods yet.

Of course, the question is if this email is really from Steve Jobs and if so, do we believe him? More on this as it develops. Meanwhile, I would bet we’ll see a software update sooner or later that addresses this “issue” which will either eliminate it all together or do a better job of hiding it.

Either way, the other big question is does anyone but a vocal minority actually care if their location data is being tracked? If you have an opinion one way or the other, be sure to sound off in the comments!