The iPad is a great device. But I can’t wait for Apple to make it even better. Because as much as I love the iPad, I’ve got a list of things I’d like on the “iPad 2,” which Apple is expected to unveil early this year.
Reports suggest that the most prominent new features will be the same ones Apple added to the iPhone this past summer: a forward-facing camera and FaceTime, its new video-calling software.
Rumors also suggest that Apple might give the iPad a technical upgrade, including a higher-resolution display, more memory, a faster processor and a three-axis gyroscope. And some have clamored for Apple to make a version of the iPad with a smaller screen, although CEO Steve Jobs all but dismissed that idea recently.
Other than a forward-facing camera and FaceTime, the only item on that list that excites me is the gyroscope — a similar sensor in the new iPhone is already being used in some innovative new games. But there are some other potential changes I’m more enthusiastic about. Here is my personal wish list. You may not see any of them on the next-generation iPad, but I think you will see them eventually.
_Cut the cord. The genius of the iPad is its simplicity. It’s a computer designed for everyone who was either intimidated by traditional PCs or flustered by maintaining them. As such, it has the potential to replace a laptop for most consumers.
But I’m reluctant to recommend the iPad as a replacement computer, because right now it can’t work without a traditional PC. To set up an iPad or update it, you have to tether it to a laptop or desktop running Apple’s iTunes software. You have to do the same if you want to upload music, movies or photos stored on your PC.
It doesn’t…