With the iPod touch 2G jailbreak right around the corner, we’re taking a look at 5 must-have jailbroken applications. From customization to utilities you’ll find that these applications are very useful and best of all, they’re free. After jailbreaking you’ll find these applications in Cydia, a preinstalled application that allows you to browse and download jailbroken applications straight from your iPod touch/iPhone.  Top 5 across the jump.

5. Clippy

While still in beta mode, Clippy provides the basic copy and paste function that has been long awaited on the iPod touch. Developed and released by iSpazio, this application allows you to select text and then copy it and paste it wherever you like. After you’ve installed Clippy, you simply select the text that you would like to copy, tap 123 on the on-screen keyboard and then appears two new buttons: one to copy, one to paste. After tapping copy, you can now place this text wherever you would like by tapping the paste button.

Clippy allows you to copy multiple lines of text after a recent update, and you can copy and paste between any applications aside from Safari. But it’s still in beta mode, so it’s likely that an update will be pushed out which will finally include support for Safari. You can find this application in Cydia, once you add the iSpazio repository: http://ispaziorepo.com/cydia/apt

4. NES Emulator

Deserving to sit in the fourth spot on this list is the NES Emulator, which has been around since the early days of Firmware 1.1.1 on the original iPod touch and iPhone. This application allows you to play NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) classics such as Galaga right on your iPod touch or iPhone. This emulators makes use of the multi-touch screen, allowing you to use the directional pad as well as the A & B buttons. Better yet, it allows you to save these games right on to your iPod touch/iPhone so that you can come back later and continue playing. You can find this emulator on Cydia, under community sources.

In order to play games on the emulator you need to have the ROM file of whatever you want to play. On that note, I’d like to point out that, depending on where you live, it is okay to play these games on the emulator if you own a copy of the game yourself. But for the sake of it, we don’t condone piracy here at Hack the iPod touch and will not be held liable so you first need to check with your local laws.

3. PocketTouch

Released by SkylarEC over at our forums, iPod touch Fans, is a handy application that makes using your iPod or iPhone in your pocket a breeze. PocketTouch allows you control your music without even having to take your iPod out of your pocket. Once you have music playing and open up PocketTouch, you can tap to pause the music and simply tap again to resume playing. You can also swipe your finger to the right to play the next song or swipe your finger to the left to return to the previous song.

PocketTouch also has a volume controller, and through many updates pushed out by SkylarEC there are many other options such as theming. If you’re on-the-go and are looking for a simple way to control your music, this application is definitely for you and easily qualifies for the #3 spot on this list.

PocketTouch 3.0 is the latest version, but watch this video for a demo of PocketTouch 2.0:

2. OpenSSH

Through the OpenSSH utility, you can access your iPod touch or iPhone’s file system right on your computer. You need a free program that allows you to SSH such as WinSCP for Windows or Cyberduck for Mac. The program that you use on your computer, whether it be WinSCP or Cyberduck, will connect to your iPod touch or iPhone as long ast you have it connected to a Wi-Fi connection. You’ll need to configure a few settings beforehand.

OpenSSH is very useful for adding things to your iPod touch or iPhone manually, such as applications. Some applications are not found on Cydia which means that you have to download them on to your computer and then use SSH to put them on to your iPod touch or iPhone. Another thing you occasionally have to add manually are themes, which reminds me about the jailbroken application that tops our list.

1. WinterBoard

This application is clearly the #1 application on our list and one of the main reasons that users tend to jailbreak their iPod touch or iPhone. In case you don’t know what WinterBoard is, it allows you to customize your iPod touch or iPhone beyond belief. You can modify images, theme, skin applications and so much more. You can create custom battery images, custom icons, custom everything. To the right of this paragraph you’ll see the popular Abeo theme.

Users have the ability to create their own themes and host them on Cydia, where you can download them straight to WinterBoard. Next, you just open up the application and tap the name of the theme and voila! There’s also the option of installing themes manually through OpenSSH, if you refer to our #2 pick on this list.

You can find WinterBoard, developed by Saurik, along with many themes and other skins on Cydia and Installer, without having to add any sources most of the time. WinterBoard only runs on Firmware 2.x, so if you’re still running Firmware 1.1.x you’re stuck with using the older alternative called SummerBoard.