Today, my iPhone 4 arrived via FedEx. I found it on my desk waiting for me when I got out of a product demo to take a phone call. To tell the truth, it was hard to concentrate on the call a little bit. After all, I’ve been anticipating this new phone for almost a year now and it’s finally here.

I had prepared to set it up before it arrived. When I got to work, I backed up my old iPhone 3G so that I could restore, jailbreak, unlock and ship it away to its new owner in New Jersey (more on that later). After taking care of the customer on the phone as best I could, since it was my first call as a sales rep and I wasn’t anticipating having to deal with a return, I opened up the phone and plugged it into my MacBook Pro.

When I’ve done this in the past, restoring the old data to the new device has been a snap. Not so much here. I’m not sure what happened to my backed up data from the old iPhone, but something didn’t work. I got my apps installed, but my SMS messages, photos and app data didn’t transfer. Gone. After much struggle (and turning my phone into airline mode so I didn’t have to erase new texts), I had to wait until I got home and restored my iPhone backup folder from my Time Machine backup and I was able to get my data on the new phone. That was a relief.

At the same time, I’ve been needing to prep my old phone for shipment, since I sold it for $300 to fund the new one. That has been a huge pain, since it’s ridiculously hard to jailbreak and unlock the newest software. I’m still trying to figure it out, and will have to stay up as late as needed to get it done for my customer.

Now, on to first impressions. The new phone is FAST. I can’t believe how quick it is to zip around from app to app. I love the speed, especially coming from an older, slower iPhone 3G. Graphics are amazing on Homerun Challenge 3d, I can actually play Guitar Hero. It’s wonderful. The retina display is not something you’ll believe until you see it. Text is sharp, and the viewing angle is incredibly wide. The phone is really thin, even thinner than a Motorola Razr, which was by far the thinnest phone of its day. Check out the full gallery here.

I am surprised, however, at the sense of difference there is in the experience. I didn’t want to use the word remorse, but it just feels different. on my 3G, I knew where everything was right away, and I knew its quirks. That’s not true for this new phone yet, but I’m sure it’s going to get there. I really want to give the camera a full run, shooting video and stills.

I know I’m going to love the phone, it’s just going to take a bit longer than I had expected.