Overclocked Palm Pre joins the 1GHz brotherhood

The webOS mobile operating system is known for its multitasking and ease of use virtues. How about some raw power behind it? While HP is twiddling its thumbs with shareholder approvals of its Palm acquisition, some insane things are being done to one humble Palm Pre. The TI OMAP3430 processor inside that particular handset has been pushed beyond limits to juice out a full 1GHz clock speed out of it. This equals the best smartphones currently on the market, and is even more amazing when you consider the default speed is "just" 600MHz.

The brains behind the “F105 Thunderchief” project (they might as well have called it “Thunderchef”), have cooked the webOS kernel to unleash the above mentioned speeds, and they have also been kind enough to record a video of how the interface behaves at those speeds. So far, the biggest drawback to toasting your chip we can see is that the bump in raw power really seems to take a heavy toll on the battery quicker than you can say “I told you so”.

Palm Pre Specifications | Review

source: Engadget