5 Things Missing From the iPad 2

Yes, the iPad 2 brings a lot to the tablet party, and it will likely leave the competition scrambling (again). But there are some features Apple left out that we wish were here. Here’s a quick rundown of what you don’t get.

4G: It’s great that both AT&T and Verizon Wireless will sell the iPad 2 with integrated 3G (starting at $629), but where’s the 4G? Sure, AT&T’s 4G network isn’t really delivering 4G speeds yet, but Verizon’s LTE is super speedy and would come in handy when uploading those HD videos you’ve edited in iMovie. At least the AT&T version uses the carrier’s HSUPA technology for faster uploads.

Memory Card slot: Once again iPad owners will have to rely on an accessory to access the contents of an SD card. And the superslim profile most likely crushes any hope of this feature being added in the future. The good news is that you can use the iPad 2 as a camera itself, though it’s a fairly large one.

Higher-Resolution Screen: Rumors of a Retina Display for the iPad 2 weren’t long-lived, but we would have liked a bump in resolution. Fortunately, the IPS panel on the iPad 2 still sports great viewing angles and resists fingerprints.

Super Mega MobileMe: Right on the eve of the iPad 2 launch there were still rumors that Apple would leverage its new server farms to let users store their music and other stuff in the cloud (Apple acquired lala for a reason). The word was that iTunes and MobileMe would integrate or merge, letting people stream and upload to their heart’s content. Maybe later.

New Multitouch Gestures: One feature that the developer version of iOS 4.3 supports that didn’t make it into the iPad 2 (at least for launch) is the ability to quickly switch between apps with a swipe. The developer build also supports swiping up to reveal the multitasking bar and pinch to get to the home screen. Apparently, these features are remaining in preview mode for now.