iPhone users who've been drooling in anticipation of the new functions coming with firmware update 2.2 have something to cheer about. Word is, the firmware will be offered up in 10 days, on Nov. 21.The last firmware update for the iPhone dropped in mid-September. That update mostly fixed issues with the 3G radio inside the iPhone. Since then, reports about iPhone firmware update 2.2 have been drifting across the Internet on a nearly constant basis. The new features coming with the update are welcome ones indeed.

Among those to be included are over-the-air podcast updates; line-in sound access for developers; and walking directions, public transport info, location sharing, and Street Views within Google Maps. A lot of these features are attached to Google's Maps for Mobile product on the iPhone and will greatly improve the user experience and functionality of the software. They have been verified in the current beta version of 2.2.

Now, a source trusted by Gizmodo claims that the firmware has a set release date. Mark Nov. 21 on your calendars, iPhone users. Right now, Gizmodo and its source are fully confident that is the date on which the update will become available.

What's not included in the update (as far as anyone knows) is cut-and-paste, which iPhone users have been requesting since day one.