***WARNING***: This is a japanese firmware
so if you download it, you better know how
to read Japanese !

http://ca.konicaminolta.jp/cgi-bin/download.cgi?category=DSC&product=a7d

Since KM has let the cat out of the bag,
here are some benchmarks I made from my
*English* v1.10 firmware:

Did some underground testing, and compared to
Dpreview and/or Rob Galbraith results:

CF card-to-PC via USB 2.0 (Lexar 2GB 80x CF card):
7D Firmware v1.00 = 1.0 Megabytes/sec
7D Firmware v1.10 = 2.5 Megabytes/sec
Canon 20D v1.0.5 = 2.6 Megabytes/sec
Lexar CF card reader = 6.0 Megabytes/sec

7D buffer-to-CF card:
7D Firmware v1.00 = 9 seconds per RAW image file (6 megapixel) Lexar 2GB 80x
7D Firmware v1.00 = 6 seconds per RAW image file (6 megapixel) SD-to-CF adptr
7D Firmware v1.10 = 3 seconds per RAW image file (6 megapixel) Lexar 2 GB 80x
Canon 10D v2.0.1 = 5 seconds per RAW image file (6 megapixel) Lexar 2 GB 80x
Canon 20D v1.0.5 = 2 seconds per RAW image file (8 megapixel) Sandisk 2GB UII

7D buffer-to-CF card (Lexar 2GB 80x CF card):
7D Firmware v1.00 = RAW: 1.1 Megabytes/sec (6 megapixel)
7D Firmware v1.10 = RAW: 2.9 Megabytes/sec (6 megapixel)
Canon 10D v2.0.1 = RAW: 1.4 Megabytes/sec (6 megapixel)
Canon 20D v1.0.5 = RAW: 4.8 Megabytes/sec (8 megapixel)*

*Dpreview and Rob Galbraith have different rates for this
(Dpreview says ~4.0 MB/s, Rob says ~5.6 MB/s, so I averaged them).

Captured frames per minute - Large Fine JPG (Lexar 2GB 80x CF card):
7D Firmware v1.00 = 63 frames per minute (6 megapixel)
7D Firmware v1.10 = 107 frames per minute (6 megapixel)
Canon 20D v1.0.5 = 97 frames per minute (8 megapixel)

Captured frames per minute - Large RAW (Lexar 2GB 80x CF card):
7D Firmware v1.00 = 17 frames per minute (6 megapixel)
7D Firmware v1.10 = 46 frames per minute (6 megapixel)
Canon 20D v1.0.5 = 41 frames per minute (8 megapixel)

Power Off-to-Shot taken (Lexar 2GB 80x CF card):
7D Firmware v1.00 = 1 sec (FAT 16); 3 sec (FAT32)
7D Firmware v1.10 = 1 sec (FAT 16)
Canon 20D v1.0.5 = >0.3 sec

Comments:
The seemingly faster 7D sustained JPEG frame rate
compared to the 20D is probably due to smaller JPEG
file size (~2.5MB in 6MP 7D vs ~2.7MB in 8MP 20D).

Note that 7D RAW files are larger than 20D RAW files
(~8.9MB in 6MP 7D vs ~7.5MB in 8MP 20D), but the
7D sustained RAW frame rate is faster. This may be due
to Canon using lossless (zip) compression to reduce
RAW file size. Perhaps Canon RAW file size is reduced
with a subsequent penalty in sustained frame rate.

7D AF changes:
Wide AF mode now appears to favor the central AF
sensor over the peripheral sensors even if the
peripheral sensors are aimed at a closer subject.
The reduces AF errors.

7D Instant Playback changes:
Histogram with blinking highlights and shadows can
now be made the default instant playback mode.
In the past, you could make the histogram default,
but I recall there was no blinking.

7D CF card handling changes:
Warning beep occurs and film counter has
a blinking red warning symbol when there is
no CF card inside. It still allows you to
take photos, which is great. Only the
blind and the deaf will not see these
warning signs.

7D flash exposure changes:
None that I can tell (I don't know for sure).

New problems I have encoutnered with
firmware v1.10:
None.

-Matt