MacRumors is reporting several new features have been discovered in the latest iPhone OS software beta, v2.2.

• Inclusion of Japanese emoji icons (See earlier report) - These are popular in Japanese phones and supposedly their absence from the iPhone has been one of the reasons it hasn’t apparently sold as well in that market.

• Google Street View. Orright!! (That’s Australian for “cool!”) Street View is one of the most useful developments in maps since Moses chiseled his escape route on stone tablets. It’s rather cool being able to do a virtual drive-by (hmm, maybe I need a better term…) of some destination before you go. Having a map may be useful, but having the iPhone show you a piccy of the exact house you’re looking for is way cool

• Optional text auto-correction. You’ll be sorry!! Are people really that good on the keyboard? Am I that lame? I’d be screwed without the auto-correction, but it seems turning it off is a feature many folks have been hankering for. Though I gotta say, it does drive me up the wall when it corrects words it doesn’t recognize. A toggle’s fine for now, but this is an area that needs more attention.

Of course, we should temper our excitement though, bearing in mind that their presence in the beta doesn’t guarantee their being in the final 2.2 update.