Qualcomm says its 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor will be ready for sampling before the end of the year, adding to a series of high-powered processors hitting the market.

The dual-CPU QSD8672 chipset is one of Qualcomm’s third-generation Snapdragon products, which includes a 1.2GHz processor currently sampling to device manufacturers.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips are targeted at high-powered mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets and a category of always-on, ultra-portable devices Qualcomm calls smartbooks.

Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor has been used in a number of high-profile smartphones, including the HTC Evo 4G, Google’s Nexus One and the Dell Streak.

Samsung also has touted the speeds of its processors, embedding its 1GHz Hummingbird processor in its Galaxy S series of smartphones, which recently launched with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile USA.