iPhone Firmware 2.2 - Read All About It

Hot on the heels of the latest iTunes update (8.0.2) the latest iPhone firmware (2.2) was released early this morning. It appears there are some pleasant surprises, as some unexpected features have been added, including a 3G baseband update. This update will not affect first generation iPhones but promises to reduce dropped calls and call setup failures on 3G models.

Other unexpected improvements include improved sound quality of Visual Voicemail messages, enhancements to Mail, and a new use for the Home button. Now from any Home screen pressing the Home button will display the first Home screen. This is a simple change that will cut down on tiresome swipes between screens.

Other changes include the enhancements to Maps we've already seen previews of, including the addition of Google Street View, public transit and walking directions, and location sharing. Over the air (OTA) podcasts are now available for download via Wi-Fi and cellular networks. The interface, stability, and performance of Mobile Safari has been also improved.

Users now have the option of turning off the auto correction while typing. According to Apple's iPhone User Guide, "Turn Auto-Correction on or off: Choose General > Keyboard and turn Auto-Correction on or off. Auto-Correction is on by default."

Japanese customers now have Emoji functionality. App updates now occur where the app was already located and will load with a darkened preview of the icon. Users will be prompted to rate apps upon deletion from the iPhone. Other security and stability improvements have been reported, as have performance increases and longer battery life...

With all of these refinements could there possibly be a reason to NOT update to 2.2? According to the iPhone Dev Team, the answer is yes. Anyone with plans to soft-unlock their iPhone 3G in the future should wait for further instructions from the team. Installing the update using iTunes could possibly make this impossible. As always, they are working on a solution now.