It was only yesterday when homebrew developers nervegas, dshadow, and the rest of their team released a new build for the groundbreaking iPhone program NES.app. In case this is the first time you heard about this application, take note that it is capable of playing backup ROMs on Apple's newest mobile phone.

NES.app is currently on version 0.47 and even though only little improvements were added to it this time, they are quite notable - frameskip reduction and well improved compiling. Here's the complete changelog:

• 0.42:
• [nervegas] Restored fast scroll list / bold font - swiping seems better
• [nervegas] Fixed compiler warnings
• [nervegas] Added notification icons for direction, b, a
• 0.43: [nervegas] Added suspend support (and preference)
• 0.44: [nervegas] Fixed suspend support while running games
• 0.45: [nervegas] Write preferences to /var/root/Library/Preferences
• [nervegas] Corrected Save-State issues with many (many) games
• 0.46: [nervegas] Corrected more save-state issues
• 0.47: [nervegas] Included patch for -O7 optimized compiling: WAY FASTER. Turn frameskip down to 2 for full speed at Mario 3, Punchout

Download: NES.app v0.47

To those of you who were delighted that the homebrew community has fully cracked the iPhone open, here's an interesting development: another group of developers came up with a new program known as NES.app that is similar to iPhoneNES.

It seems like this is somewhat a "follow through" because the first parts of both the programs' changelog are similar. Anyway, NES.app uses the InfoNES emulation core so it reflects the 6502 processor in a Nintendo Entertainment System.

It allows users to play ROM dumps of games designed for the NES. NES.app is currently on v0.41 and the changes since iPhoneNES v.20 are as follows:

• 0.22:[stepwhite] Added diagonal direction hotspots, SHOW_HITSPOT flags
• 0.23:[nervegas] Tweaks to orientation change, DEBUG shows hot spots now
• 0.24:
• [nervegas] Using K6502_rw.h from older core, Metroid and Punchout work!
• [nervegas] Made more improvements to orientation sensitivity
• [nervegas] Implemented slightly faster rendering
• 0.25: [nervegas] Enlarged controls for landscape mode
• 0.26: [nervegas] Change status bar background to black on landscape
• 0.27: [nervegas] Controller fix to allow button, then directional pad hold
• 0.28: [nervegas] Added save SRAM support (to save SRAM for games like Zelda)
• 0.29: [nervegas] Added auto-save state and "Saved Games" selection
• 0.30: [nervegas] Fixed SaveState for many games, +Mapper1 +Mapper5. This fixed Tetris, Bubble Bobble, Super Mario 2, others...

The rest of the changelog and the download link after the jump!

Pwnage! There is no other word that describes having a NES emulator on the iPhone. The application iphonenes v0.20.1 is a fully functional emulator which even mirrors the original NES controller on the touch screen of the mobile phone.

While it is still in its early stages, the development of this program is going quite well. This particular NES emulator uses the NES core for emulation and looks stable.

The developers also released the complete changelog which details what modifications have been done to the program since its initial release:

• 0.01 stepwhite Initial release
• 0.02 nervegas Implemented frame skip
• 0.03 nervegas Rewrote rendering routines using CoreSurface
• 0.04 nervegas Added multi-touch support to controller
• 0.05 nervegas Further optimizations
• 0.06 nervegas Corrected color palette
• 0.07 nervegas Further controller improvements (dragging, etc)
• 0.08 nervegas Further controller improvements (fixed disconnect, etc)
• 0.09 nervegas Preliminary sound support (see notes)
• 0.10 nervegas Fixed crashing when returning to file list
• 0.11 nervegas Improved sound quality, both earbuds work now, buffering+
• 0.12 nervegas Enlarged controllers, improved hot spot locations
• 0.13 nergegas Expanded on multitouch control - (see notes)
• 0.14 nervegas Added switch for landscape build OBSOLETE
• 0.15 nervegas Widened landscape mode - removed navBar
• 0.16 nervegas added toolchain header patch / better docs
• 0.17 nervegas Set orientation mode during game play, updated header patch
• 0.18 nervegas Fixed minor issue with orientation flip, added wheat to cool
• 0.19 nervegas Improved orientation transitions
• 0.20 nervegas Changes to multitouch (see notes), added DEBUG, old icon
• 0.20.1 stepwhite Added hidden diagonal controls (i.e. up&left, up&right). Added SHOW_HITSPOT.

Download the program and try it out. Unfortunately, the devs didn't include a Readme file or an installation guide with the file so you'll have to click on our Read Link to check it out. Be sure to read the instructions and follow it to the letter to avoid having any untoward incidents with your iPhone.

iphonenes v0.20.1 was primarily coded by user stepwhite. Other members of the development team include nervegas, nightwatch, bwhiteman, dshadow, and wheat among others.

Download: iphonenes v0.20.1

It looks like the NES emulator for the iPhone is making some progress. The developers have released a video demonstrating the iPhone running the classic Super Mario Brothers. It has no sounds yet, which isn't surprising since it's in its development stages.

The speed is a bit slow though, which makes it a little discouraging. Also they seem to have done some liberties with the controls to compensate for it's diminutive scale. When the gamer pressed forward, Mario just kept moving forward even when he released the button. He opened other games but didn't demonstrate the keypads further so we'll have to wait and see how they fare with the developments.

Sure the Apple TV has nearly everything you can ever want - save for the video games. There is speculation that the Apple TV may be able to support games in the future, though they will likely be bought from the iTunes store or would have to be in a certain format.

Well, some people found a way to hack into Apple's entertainment system and got emulators working on it. Reportedly, there are five available emulators for the Apple TV: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Nintendo64, Nintendo Gameboy Advance (GBA), and Sega Genesis. Instructions and the emulators themselves (we suppose the ROMs as well) now litter the interwebs but we shall insert a disclaimer here:

Tampering with the Apple TV might void your warranty, not to mention render the unit useless.

According to the report, hackers are also trying to find a way to work the Xbox360 with the Apple TV and are making progress. The "service only" USB port has been hacked into and so enabling the use of joysticks. Rumors say that in/famous Jon Lech Johansen has gotten hold of an Apple TV. We'll see what comes of that in the future. For now, be careful with those emulators.

Engadget reports a couple of new abilities that you Apple TV owners can choose to bestow upon your two-week old Apple gadget.

The first one is an RSS plugin from Twenty08. This plugin features a basic RSS Feed reader and can read RSS1.x/2.x feeds. The plugin can't read ATOM feeds as of this posting, but we're looking forward to an update that will hopefully include this feature. Video RSS feeds are also on the way according to Twenty08.

The second is for videogame console emulation. It's not actually a hack per se, but according to Engadget, a Wiki over at AwkwardTV says that several popular emulators by Richard Bannister "work on the Apple TV OS with the addition of SSH." Right now, the following emulators have been confirmed working:

• Nestopia 1.3.6 (NES)
• Generator 0.4.2 (Sega Genesis)
• BSNES 0.17 (SNES)
• Sixtyforce 0.9.0 (N64)

Finally, there's a challenge put forth by AppleTVHacks.net and FatWallet.com where they'll be giving US$ 1,000 to the first person or team who can get an Apple TV to use an external USB drive for storage. The patch must also be applied without opening the Apple TV's case, much like in the USB boot video we posted about a few days ago.

For more on all of these new hacks and the challenge, click on the "via" link below.

We've seen a lot of mods lately, and if we may add, we're seeing a trend here. Remember the one that plays Wii games on a Gameboy Advance? How about the one that makes the console somewhat portable? And now we're about to add another "mod" to our list.

To tell you the truth though, we're not quite sure how you'll take this: We found a video clip of an iPod running with a NES controller. It sounds weird and all but the guy is actually playing a Ninty game on an Apple gadget. We wouldn't be surprise if the next one would include an SNES or a GC controller - heck, even the Wiimote itself.

Well, we'll just have to see in the coming days if something like that will actually happen. For now, just watch the video clip bunnyf00f00 uploaded and tell us what you think.