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One could call the iPhone many things, but lacking in versatility is not one of them, however there are those out there who feel it could be so much more than ‘just’ a smartphone.  Those people are geeks, but geeky in a good way and not in the creepy darkened-room-with-only-a-keylogger-for-company way.

Here are five hacks where, in great modding tradition, someone has grabbed their iPhone and thought…what else can this do?

The LED Flash.

We’re easing you in gently with this one.  While hardly the best camera phone on the market, there’s no doubt the addition of a flash would mean a big improvement in conditions other than ‘very, very sunny’ which the iPhone prefers now.  However, the addition of a massive battery pack and three LED lights wasn’t what we had in mind!  Still, the ingenuity is there and it’s certainly bright!

The Linux OS.

The iPhone OS is not broken and doesn’t need replacing.  But, this hasn’t stopped some enterprising individuals writing a dual-boot loader for the iPhone so someone could install Linux! Not just any version of Linux either, one which currently can’t make use of the touchscreen, graphics card or in fact, any of the iPhone’s features!  Brilliant!  The only thing is, the project is so deliciously geeky, one can’t help but be a bit impressed.

The iSensePhone.

More OS fun, but this time using a jailbroken iPhone loaded with a theme based around HTC’s Sense UI. That’s right, HTC Sense, seen on the Android-based Hero and the forthcoming WinMo 6.5 HTC HD2.  While we struggle to see the sense (sorry) in installing a UI which aims to replicate the iPhone experience on non-iPhones…on the iPhone itself, the accompanying video does make it look very swish!

The RiVR.

With the introduction of video on the 3GS, everyone discovered that the iPhone is even more of a pain to shoot video on than it is to take a steady still picture.  A problem which will likely be solved when the RiVR hits the market sometime between now and…then.  This video rig has a light, a mic and a big, grippy handle so your films will be more Kubrick steadicam than Bourne shaky cam.  With a little more tweaking – and shrinking – this is the the only hack here we could imagine actually using.  Go ahead and use that in your pitch if you like, guys.

The Besmoke.

This insane ‘interactive fluid simulation’, called the Besmoke, is operated by creator Eric Gradman, who does so by strapping an iPhone to the back of his head.  Oh, and it has got a Neural Impulse Actuator providing brainwave input, all assisted by the iPhone’s accelerometer.  We feel that’s a good thing, but we could be wrong.  Regardless, the sight of a man with a mohican and an iPhone on his head controlling a psychedelic display with his brain will be one which stays with us for a while.

All that’s left to do now is issue a challenge.  Follow the links, watch the videos and come up with your own iPhone hack in the style of those above, then tell us about it in the comments!