Apple has seeded some iPhone developers with a new beta iPhone firmware for testing. The new version is labeled iPhone OS 2.2 beta 1 and is accompanied by a new beta of the iPhone SDK (build 9M2611). Beyond “compatibility testing”, there are no other differences noted by Apple. It’s not clear yet if the new builds have any further implementation of background push notifications that have been promised by Apple.

The latest purported email from Steve Jobs claims that this feature is “running a bit late”:

We’re running a bit late. We want to get it 100% right the first time.

Steve

Apple released the 2.1 Firmware to the public on September 12th. iPhone 2.1 addressed a number of bugs and stability issues with the iPhone and App Store.

Source Macrumors

Update: A first screenshot of Safari on firmware 2.2 has leaked. It shows us some differences compared to Safari on firmware 2.1. The search icon has been removed and the google search field is now right next to the url location. Reloading the page now is just next to the url.