Why hasn't Apple released an update to iPhone OS 3.1.2?

Plenty of users are anxiously awaiting an update to iPhone firmware. Problems with OS 3.1.2 such as battery drain and needing to reboot the device to get a 3G signal have yet to be addressed by Apple.

It's been over three months since the last update. What gives?

BGR is reporting the reason for delay has more to do with an Apple tablet than the iPhone itself. Apparently there's too much "tablet related code/references in the OS" and Apple doesn't want people snooping around.

The company is said to be announcing a 10-inch touch screen tablet computer at the end of January based on an ARM processor and running the iPhone OS kernel. iPhone developers are also anticipating a firmware 4.0 announcement at Apple's scheduled media event.