Beyond basic backup and syncing concerns, the iPad and iOS would greatly benefit from Apple's opening up the "walled garden," even if it merely provides a common holding pen within the walled garden that individual apps can choose to access. Drag-and-drop file transfers are one of Android's strengths. And the lack of interoperability remains a blemish on iOS's record in comparison with Android. As the tablet market competition heats up, I can see iOS's lack of direct file transfers becoming more of an issue for consumers.

To a degree, Apple's reluctance to say more about iOS isn't surprising. We still need to hear plenty more details, such as how the dual-core A5 CPU will handle multitasking. I'm betting we'll hear far more information about iOS (5.0, perhaps?) in the lead-up to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Typically, that's where the company has discussed major iOS revisions, with rollout tied to the next iPhone release.