2nd Gen iPod Touch has 27% faster CPU

In an interesting piece from UMPC Portal it appears that the ARM CPU in the 2nd Generation of iPod Touches is running at a 27% faster clock than the old Touch, and both the iPhone EDGE and iPhone 3G. This is evidenced by anybody using the new iPod Touch through the much faster GUI. Although it's possible for Apple to release a firmware update that clocks the other devices up to the faster speed, it could result in all kinds of issues. Any CPU running at faster than standard clock, aka overclocked, means greater power drain (less battery life), greater heat output (or need for better cooling) and reliability issues. 

For those interested, the new Touch's Processor runs at 523MHz vs 412MHz on the older touchscreen models. The new Touch also has better battery life than the others despite its notably gruntier CPU. Interestingly, Apple hasn't touted this faster CPU as a feature of the Touch, perhaps in a marketing move intended not to cheapen the flagship iPhone 3G.

My iPhone EDGE has been great but the GUI at times can be a tad slow. The iPhone 2.0 firmware update was actually so CPU unfriendly that it decreased the GUI interaction speed so significantly that Apple had to launch a huge fix in the 2.1 firmware. I'd love a faster GUI navigation speed whether that be through better software from Apple or maybe even overclocking. You may be thinking "Why doesn't a 3rd party developer create an overclocking app?". Well one of the many strict rules governing developers' app submissions to the official AppStore is that all functionality must cease (in this case overclocking) once the App is exited. However, a workaround is using Installer/Cydia on a jailbroken iPhone, where there are no restrictions on what developers can achieve. Knowing Apple engineering I'm not sure this would be an easy task, especially given things like voltage adjustments and memory timing to be taken into consideration, but its definitely something I'd be downloading as long as it doesn't turn my iPhone into an expensive, hot paperweight.