Apple recently started a countdown to the 10 Billion’th App download and even launched a contest to give away a very generous $10000 iTunes Gift Voucher to the person who download the 10 Billion’th app.

By the end of January 2010 the Apple iTunes App store stood at 3 Billion downloaded Apps, and a year later, today, it has surpassed the 10 Billion download mark.

It just shows how popular Apps have become amongst smartphone users, and with Apple that has launched the Mac App Store recently figures might just double during the year to come.

Apple has released no word yet on who the person is who won the $10000 iTunes Gift Card Vouchers, but I sure hope its me! In the mean time, if you are based in South Africa and would like to get your hands on all the wonderful games, movies, series, music and apps the US iTunes store has to offer, check out this tutorial on opening a US iTunes Account and then check out where are the cheapest places to buy iTunes Gift Cards.

The past weekend I received my iPad I won from Remax and immediatly started exploring seeing as this was my first Apple device. I quickly got the iPad up and running and started installing apps but then realized that I did not have access to all the wonderful apps everybody was talking about, reason I was using a South African iTunes account.

The nice thing about the South African iTunes account is that you can use your credit card directly on the App Store, the not so nice thing is that you do not have access to any of the great content available on the US iTunes App Store, that includes music, movies, episodes and apps.

Here is what I did to get access to the US iTunes app store.

1. Open iTunes on your computer and head over to the iTunes store.
2. Scroll to right at the bottom of the iTunes store and click the South African flag, this will bring up a list of countries, choose USA.
3. Once you have selected USA as your country, scroll to the section on the right of the iTunes store that says free apps and select an app you want. Any app will do just make sure it is a free app otherwise this will not work.
4. Click the icon that says Free and a screen will pop up asking you to either log in or create a new iTunes account, click Create New Account and then follow the instructions on screen.
5. Once you reach the section that asks you to enter your credit card information head over to Google Maps and locate a place in the US, I suggest a restaurant like McDonnalds or Burger King and use that as your address. Don’t worry Apple will not send snail mail to that address. Enter it on the screen, remember to use your own email address as you will need it to confirm your account. Also make sure you use the telephone number of the place, or at least make sure the area code matches.
6. Once you have entered you fake US identity click continue and registration should now be completed. You will receive an email asking you to confirm your account, simply click the link in the email and you will now be able log in with your US iTunes account to get access to all the great content.

Unfortunately when you have a US iTunes account in South Africa you can not use your South African credit card, but great news is that you can buy credits in the form of vouchers to use on the iTunes store. iTunes vouchers are obtainable through websites like WildTwig and iEverything.

These vouchers are a bit more expensive then the actual value on them but thats a small price to pay to get access to all the great apps, movies, series and music in the US iTunes store, plus they get delivered straight to your inbox almost instantly after payment have been confirmed. WildTwig and iEverything offers the best prices for US iTunes Vouchers, check out my iTunes voucher price comparison here.

I’ll be doing some more posts on iPad apps, tips and tricks from now on.

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Even the iPhone isn’t perfect. Here are the top ten iPhone annoyances and what you can do about them.

Even the greatest gadgets have flaws, and the iPhone is certainly no exception. Praise it all you want, but the “Jesus phone” has plenty of little annoyances or nuisances that get under a user’s skin. Fortunately, technology is all about workarounds to common problems. So we’ve not only put together a Top 10 list of iPhone annoyances to vent about, we’re also offering solutions (where we can) to fix those pesky iPhone problems we hate so much.

10. Default Apps Can’t Be Hidden

The iPhone’s start screen is filled with shortcuts to prepackaged applactions that come with your iPhone whether you want them or not–for example, an app for checking stocks whose shortcut can’t be removed from the iPhone interface. Despite Apple’s insistence, not everyone wants to check the Dow Jones Industrial Average or for that matter the weather, or even use the iPhone’s calculator. That the iPhone’s prepackaged apps can’t be hidden, deleted, or otherwise customized speaks to the stubborn rigidity of Apple.

Ideally: If Apple wanted to fix this annoyance, it would have an “Appearance” option in the Settings menu that would allow users to make unwanted apps disappear without actually deleting them.

The workaround: Isolate undesirable apps on your last home page–that’s the quick and dirty method. A more elaborate trick, detailed at Macenstein, stashes apps on a hidden overflow page, though this works only until the iPhone is turned off. Jailbreakers will seek out programs such as Sbsettings or Poof.

9. You Can’t Run Pandora or Other Apps in the Background

One of the iPhone’s greatest assets is the ability to stream Internet radio stations such as Pandora and Slacker from anywhere with a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. Too bad you can’t listen to that music while checking e-mail or playing games.

Ideally: In a perfect world, Apple would allow certain apps to run at the same time as others. We understand that Apple’s trying to keep the smartphone running smoothly, but if the iPod app can play music in the background, the iPhone’s audio apps should be able to do the same.

The workaround: Sadly, you’ll have to use your get-out-of-jail-free card. Jailbreakers can download Gaizin’s Backgrounder app for full multitasking glory.

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