We've already seen Nokia's Maemo 5-powered N900 pull off some pretty fanciful tricks, but without qualification this is the one most dear to our hearts. Somehow or another, Konttori managed to get his palms around an N900 of his own, and rather than testing out the social networking abilities or battery life, he simply installed an SNES emulator, tweaked it to accept Wiimote controls and even connected it to his TV for a staggeringly authentic gameplay experience. Vicarious living is just a click or two away, so hop on past the break for a video of the action. Oh, and don't mind the baby -- he's not in the corner or anything.

[Thanks, Sathish]

Despite a statement back in April from prez Satoru Iwata that the company would make a phone if it could avoid monthly subscription costs, it looks like Nintendo will not be getting into the cell biz any time soon. Reggie Fils-Aime, president and CFO of Nintendo of America just put the kibosh on all that with a statement to the New York Times, saying, "Telephony is not in our wheelhouse. It's not something I anticipate us getting into." So, you're telling us that telephony is not in your wheelhouse? Hmm... okay. Thanks for clearing that up! The company is however, considering offering devices with always-on wireless connectivity -- which would be way cooler the DSi's current, WiFi hotspot capabilities.

Not that we've never had the pleasure of seeing an NES phone mod before, but there's just something especially elegant about this one. The not-at-all-ancient Samsung a867 Eternity was chosen by one Taylor Merrill to be shoved inside of a now-defunct Nintendo Entertainment System controller. The result, naturally, is what you see above -- er, half of it, anyway. For a look at the whole thing in its entirety, hop on past the break and mash play. Per usual, we take no responsibility for damage dealt to your retro game consoles, existing handsets or pride should you attempt to replicate.

[Thanks, stagueve]

Sadly, there's a good chance you already own an iPhone 3G case if you're the proud owner of an iPhone 3G. That said, there's still nothing stopping you from hopping a flight to Tokyo and replacing your current one with the best case in the history of cases. Sadly, the lad that snapped this shot isn't sure where exactly this thing is sold, but if you're savvy on the details, be sure to holler in comments below.

[Via PMPToday]

While most folks welcome gaming devices that do more than simply play games, Texas-based Wall Wireless LLC seems to think that's a bit over the line, at least when it's not getting a piece of the action. More specifically, the little known company says that Sony, Nintendo, and Nokia are infringing on its patent for a "Method and Apparatus for Creating and Distributing Real-Time Interactive Media Content Through Wireless Communication Networks and the Internet," which apparently relates to someone distributing "messages having aural or visual content that is generated by the operator using handheld apparatuses such as mobile telephones." According to Wall Wireless, that patent not only covers the DS and PSP, but specific games like Mario Kart and Wipeout Pulse, and a whole host of Nokia's game-playing phones, including the N95, N93, and N82. As a result, it's seeking a permanent injunction against the allegedly infringing companies lest it be "irreparably harmed," as well as the usual damages, expenses, and attorney's fees, not to mention "pre-judgment and post-judgment interest."

[Via Register Hardware]

According to extremely reliable and embarrassingly handsome Engadget sources, at an iPhone event held today, John Geleynse (AKA Director of Technology Evangelism at Apple) made some statements regarding the iPhone platform that should seriously raise a few eyebrows. During an ADC "iPhone Tech Talk" in San Jose, Geleynse apparently waxed excited about the potential for the handheld as a viable threat to the DS (and the PSP by proxy), calling the iPhone a "gaming console" and claiming that "it's not a phone, it's a console experience." Pretty bold talk about a device that has yet to really prove its gaming mettle, but nothing new from the Apple camp as far as we're concerned. Considering these comments alongside those from a recent interview in which Greg Joswiak compared the touch to the DS, it seems clear that the company is making a noticeable effort to push this angle. Adding some fuel to that fire is PR that just went out announcing a series of EA "sneak peek" events at Apple Stores around the US. In their words:

Throughout the month of December Apple Stores in New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago will host special "EA Games Sneak Peek" events where Electronic Arts will discuss why the iPod touch and iPhone are amazing platforms for mobile gaming...

While there's no question the iPhone and touch have made inroads when it comes to gaming, it still isn't clear that there's going to be anything beyond a casual interest for these devices. Then again, if the Wii's success has proven anything, it's that there's plenty of cash in casual if you can make it appealing enough. And you know how Apple feels about appealing products and money.

Our first thought when we heard the news that there was an NES emulator in the works for the Sidekick series of text machines was one of pure, unabashed elation. The classic Hiptop form factor is pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered for effective old-skool gaming, after all -- and let's be honest, any time Nintendo playtime comes to a new platform is cause for immediate and overindulgent celebration. Our second thought was, "wait, what?" It's pretty unclear how the emulator would be loaded with legally-obtained ROMs and we have our doubts that Nintendo signed away the rights to any binaries, so we're a little confused about the word that this would be officially offered through the Danger's Software Catalog. Let's all cross our fingers, continue to pay our T-Mobile bills on time, and hope that tomorrow might bring countless hours of Skate or Die while we're... you know, actually skating or something.

Update: While not technically fake, it turns out that this 80s-vintage action is going to remain a pipe dream (and no, we're not talking about the NES game Pipe Dream, either). Danger's developer tools allow arbitrary Java to be loaded into the Hiptop emulator -- not just approved stuff, obviously -- so odds are that someone loaded an NES emulator (like, say, vNes) and went to town with the screen shots. Official offering through the Catalog, though? Not so much. Thanks, Jim!

Just as agreements between Apple and O2 have evidently been inked, it seems that the BBC may be ready to introduce the first big iPhone app in the not too distant future. A recent promotional video for the forthcoming iPlayer -- a software client that allows users to download and view episodes or entire series of BBC television programming on their devices -- actually shows an interface working on an iPhone. The application was originally designed to work on PCs (and Macs, eventually), but the surprisingly lengthy demonstration (seen after the jump) on Apple's handset certainly makes you wonder what's in store.

[Thanks, Chris S.]

With under a week to go until the iPhone launches, all bets are officially off. Of course, we'd still risk the farm (okay, at least the barn) that this rumor will remain just that, but an "anonymous source" has reportedly suggested that Nintendo could end up partnering with Apple for iPhone gaming. Interestingly enough, it was stated that any content pushed out for the iPhone would "cater to older audiences," which enables us to take all of this very lightly considering the Big N's obsession with less-than-mature titles. Additionally, these "exclusives" would unsurprisingly be released via iTunes for a whopping $29 apiece, but controlling Mario without a trademark D-pad could prove difficult. Frankly, we're hardly buying into this one just yet, but it's not like Apple hasn't done the impossible before.

[Via TUAW]

We get a wee bit excited round here when brands collide to create interesting new spinoffs, but this handset is full-on ridiculous. Our creative Asian friends weren't happy with a simple gaming handset, they had to bust out a Windows Mobile-esque OS, with a dash of faux PSP, a splash of Nintendo all wrapped in almost Anycall. Notice that great big PSP logo on the back? Well that's all there is for Sony content here, the handset is actually loaded with NES games and Pac-Man? Of course, we have to congratulate on the Samsung F520 double slider thing going on here, we feel that this is definitely a winning idea, but of course this handset only copies and is definitely not the brainchild of Samsung. Packing dual-band GSM a-la 900 / 1800, a 1.3 megapixel shooter, a touchscreen, and support for up to 2GB of memory, the mystery manufacturer handset definitely has the goods. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of Keepin' It Real Fake fare, and we think this could only be topped by some clever use of iPhone branding and maybe a Coca-Cola color scheme. This one won't be hitting carriers over here, but at the end of the day, who really cares? We are justifiably in awe.

With Nintendo's staunch resistance to anything outside the narrow focus of gaming -- though it looks like they're loosening up on that standard quite a bit with the Wii -- it's quite surprising they ever even gave a phone a second thought, but even more surprising they have a patent for just such a device dated November 2001. For some reason, it took the USPTO until June 2006 to issue this thing, so there's no telling if Nintendo still has any interest in its "Electronic apparatus having game and telephone functions," but that doesn't mean we can't ogle the mockup screenshots all the same. Peep 'em after the break.

[Thanks, Steve P]

While mobile companies are doing their best to make cellphones as sleek and futuristic as possible, retro junkies keep taking them apart and turning them into ironic, yet functional, pieces of art like these. The first mod, from Grooveking.com, makes an old Motorolla DynaTAC 8000X or "Zack Morris phone" into a Bluetooth headset, that'll get 8-times the juice of a normal battery. The second project, from DIYHappy.com, takes an old NES controller (which has already gotten the Bluetooth treatment in the past) and fills it with the guts of a Nokia 3200 – yes, the American Idol phone. You need a little technical know-how to make these for yourself, but after you get the hang of it, all of your gadgets might end up crammed into NES controllers. Sadly, the Nokia 3200 doesn't have Bluetooth so you won't be able to use these two devices together, but we look forward to the future when our Xbox 360 controllers and Treos are turned into seemlessly-integrated retro kitsch.