In my opinion this is a key missing part of the Ember framework. Angular includes similar functionality built-in. In my project we've been using jQuery methods to handle interacting with our REST API, but Ember-data would make those interactions much more seamless and automatic.
I don't think this is so true. Angular's $resource has different goals and functionality than something like ember data. To me, Angular's $resource looks closer to Backbone's sync methods.
Things I don't see in Angular's $resource:
* Identity map
* Support for switching adapters (e.g. online/offline)
* Relationships
If that's the case, they don't care. Ember-Data is the datamapper pattern in Javascript.
I'm hoping this changes the pace of the project. Public releases should keep us focused.