Design consistancy, standard UI widgets and behavior are all good things. What excites me on my iPhone/iPad is apps that do new cool things, not apps that try to create new UI behaviors and looks.
Yes, if you do that you are "just mashups of each other", if you don't you are "inconsistent".
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
>New apps on my Xoom tend to be exciting and original. My iPad? More of the same.
That's just in the superficial sense --looking different etc. Not in any new cool interaction models.
The way Cocoa Touch works though, means that when Apple will redesign the UI elements (the "look" part), all the "generic" apps will get the new look.
In ad-hoc UI Android, not so much.
Can you name a few so that I can try them on my tablet? Also would be helpful if you can point me to a place where the good and new tablet apps are showcased(not just the Play store's Tablet picks) since most apps seem to be phone apps that look terrible on a tablet.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402037,00.asp
A must-have resource for any Android tablet owner.