Tech Loop has just learned that Apple's eagerly awaited iPhone 2.2 software update has been released and is available on the iTunes store for download. Apple must have worked some ugly overtime last night, pumping this update out in the middle of the night.

The iPhone's New Streetview Feature

New items include, probably most notably, Google Maps Streetview – so, you can walk down the street and simultaneously walk down the same street in the virtual world. From what we can tell, the mobile version of Streetview has all of the same functionality as the full desktop version. The street view feature, along with copy/paste, has been at the top of a long list of features many users have wanted for a very long time. To go along with Streetview, Apple has also added public transportation routes as well walking routes to help you navigate this dark and tangled world. See the screenshot below for a sampling of the public transportation route feature used here in Chicago:

Using the New Public Transportation Feature to Track the Blue Line. Very Cool. Very Simple.

Additions have also been made to the App Store and iTunes Store. The App Store now carries the ability to sort the thousands of applications in the store for easier searching and downloading. The App Store will also ask you to rate the application before deleting it. The iTunes saw a major update in the way of podcasts. Prior to 2.2, you weren’t able to download your favorite podcasts without using the desktop iTunes store and synching – you can now download podcasts over wifi and even 3G. This is a welcome relief to all of the times I’ve forgotten to download TWiT for my Monday commute.

The update includes some major bugfixes to mail, visual voicemail and Safari. We are hoping Safari will be a bit more crash-free. Still amiss in this update is the infamous copy/paste feature and the background process feature that Apple debuted at WWDC08.

We apologize - Steve Jobs was too sick not available for comment on the missing features today ;-)

Look for a FULL review on Sunday, after Tech Loop has had the chance to put the update through its full paces.

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