What is the purpose of icloud? IT DOESN't WORK AT ALL

Got a ipad a few months ago of course have downloaded lots of apps, taken lots of pictures and downloaded lots of songs. JUST now got a iphone 4s and want all this same data trasnferred over and kept updated that way i can do something on the ipad leave it at home one day and have the same thing on my iphone… Both of these devices are set up for the icloud account, both have been backed up, both have been synced into my computer.macs website claims that this gets all transferred wirelessy… Do i need to return my iphone? Or can someone actually tell me how to do this

Added (1). Everything is on and the settings are exactly the same for my ipad and iphone

I'm assuming that the setting are pretty much the same for an iPhone… I have an iPod. Go into your iCloud's settings and make sure that you have selected "ON" for what you want to be synced. (ie.photo stream on/off, documents and data on/off). There's also a setting under the app store settings page that allows automatic downloads and purchases from other devices to be downloaded to your phone/ my iPod. Just be sure you check it all out. So many settings… Hope it helps!