While the release notes accompanying Apple's most recent iPhone firmware beta listed "compatibility testing" as version 2.2's sole change, MacRumors reports that a series of hidden features are also included, most notably support for Google Street View for the Google Maps application. Street View delivers to users panoramic, street-level photographs of selected cities within Google Maps--the feature was recently demoed in T-Mobile USA's forthcoming G1, the first handset powered by Google's Android mobile operating system.

In addition, iPhone 2.2 will feature support for Japanese emoji icons--pundits have cited the absence of these emoticons and avatars a principal reason behind the device's failure to catch on with Japanese consumers. Apple also will allow users to disable the iPhone's auto-correction features with the device's Keyboard settings. The computing giant has not yet said when the iPhone 2.2 firmware will be available.

For more on the iPhone updates:
- read this MacRumors article [1]

Related articles:
Google debuts first mobile app for iPhone [2]
Google revamps iPhone [3] applications suite