You cannot automatically update, however, as far as I know, nothing prevents you from notifying the user that a new version is available in your application. For example, you can contact the web server to find out what the latest version is, and compare it with the build number in your application suite, and then display the corresponding notification / notification to the user. Or you can get fancy and use 3.0 push notifications for this.
Theoretically, appstore app / itunes will do it anyway, but it’s clear that many users don’t see it.
Another thing you can do using the method I set out (that the app store will not do) is telling users that the new version is available, what it does and that it is waiting for the apple.
It's even easier to just embed the ad channel in your application. This allows you to talk to your users without waiting for the apple - you can tell them that there is a new version along the way, etc. I do this using an application that I am beta testing - a button on the main screen shows the ads that I pull from my server.
Perhaps if this were done enough for application developers, the apple would begin to turn statements faster. Or change the rule of law to prevent this [assuming that this is not yet] :-)