Apple has started seeding the iPhone 2.2 beta to developers and the company continues the trend of adding new features with each major update.  Even though the release note for the software says, “compatibility testing”, Apple has added at least three new features according to MacRumors.
The first feature is aimed for Japanese iPhone uses and it adds support for emoji icons shown in the above screenshots. Emoji icons are a popular feature in Japanese phones and some analysts have blamed lack of emoji icons as one of the reason for slow iPhone adoption (though there is no proof of slow iPhone adoption).
The second feature is the Google Street View, which was demoed by T-Mobile on the G1 phone and was lacking on the iPhone. The street view in Google Maps allows users to view panoramic street level photographs in select cities.
The last feature allows user to disable the iPhone’s auto-correction. The feature is available via Settings > General > Keyboard. We can’t say whether all three features will make it to the final software release. One feature that we want on the iPhone is voice activated calling and it looks like Apple won’t add it in 2.2 software update also.