Fastest way to search for an element in unsorted array

Question

I just bumped on to this question today and was trying for a solution that is better than O(N) but could not come up with one.

Searched through SO but couldn\'t find

Answer 1

You're right, the fastest way is to simply iterate through the array and look for it. Without further information, there is nothing better you can do.

Unless you have a quantum computer, that is.