On the eve of the UK launch of the iPhone, Apple has released a new version of the iPhone OS that features increased international language support and updated firmware. The 1.1.2 update also appears to close the TIFF exploit that had allowed people to “jailbreak” their phones and install third-party apps, something that’s good to know if you want to keep using those nifty hacks (which are going bye-bye until the next inevitable software crack).

Though the update is not yet appearing automatically in iTunes (at least not as of 11:00 pm central), you can access the 160 Mb file here and do a manual software update, or you can wait until tomorrow morning when it should show up in iTunes should you decide to sync your iPhone.

Though there don’t seem to be any to-die-for new features in the latest software version, we have been pleased with the way previous updates have cleaned up earlier problems, and we’re especially hoping that the new update may take care of some of the battery issues introduced in version 1.1.1.

Update: Our friends over at MacNN have posted some handy pictures, including pictures of the new international keyboard options. The iPod touch version of the update finally appears to bring the “Add Event” option to the touch’s calendar.