We reported on Friday that a nasty WiFi bug causing random drops in the gold master build of iOS 4.2 was likely to delay release of the update from anywhere between a few days to the end of the month.

It looks like that report was right: Apple has just dropped a second GM build of iOS 4.2 for the iPad, updating the GM from 8C134 to 8C134b.

Where this puts the official release of iOS 4.2 is anyone’s guess. We’ve previously heard rumors to expect iOS 4.2 to drop tomorrow, but some sources are placing the official release date as far away as November 24th.

Ultimately, what it will all come down to is how much testing Apple thinks the new GM will require for a fix to a single WiFi bug. Taking all bets!

In the meantime, you can download the second GM for developers here.

I hope you didn’t jump out of bed at the crack of dawn today, throw open the curtains, crack open a few eggs in the frying pan, connect your iPad to iTunes and then sit down to spend the next few hours to continuously hammer the “Check for Update” button, because we’ve got some bad news for you: it doesn’t look like iOS 4.2 is going to drop today.

The first interesting tidbit to surface from the iOS 4.2 GM firmware release today is the fact that there is a new multitasking bar on the iPad.

The new version sports both brightness and volume controls for quick access to these settings. In addition to the regular audio controls and screen orientation lock Apple has added a new AirPlay button just to the left of the volume control.

[via deanostetto at Macrumors forums]

Earlier today, Apple released the Gold Master version of iOS 4.2 and the corresponding SDK to developers, bringing the current version of both to 4.2 GM (builds 8C134 and 10M2423 respectively). The update follows the release of the previous beta by about three weeks.

In addition to those updates Apple also has a beta 2 version of iTunes 10.1. However, iTunes hasn’t gone to Gold Master status and there is no indication that this will happen soon.