Apple releases the new Macbook Air - The world's thinnest notebook.

The new year – the time for change – the time for resolutions – the time for the latest announcements from MacWorld in San Francisco. We oohed when Steve Jobs pulled the first iPod Nano out of the small pocket in his jeans. We counted the days until we could feel the new iPhone in our own hands. And just this morning, we marvelled when the world’s thinnest laptop was pulled out of an envelope.

Weighing just 3 pounds, a remarkable 0.16 inches at its thinnest point and merely 0.76 inches at its maximum height, the MacBook Air was born. Typically as laptop computers have become smaller, sacrifices to the size of the screen as well as the size of the keyboard had to be made. Miraculously the new MacBook Air did not suffer on account of its weight loss. The design includes a 13.3 inch widescreen display using LEDs that consume less power and still provide a sharp picture. And forget about cramming your fingers while you’re typing, the MacBook Air has a fullsize, backlit keyboard as well.

But naturally size alone is usually not enough to impress us. Along with the features and programs we would expect to find on any new Apple computer, the coolest new addition is the multifunctional trackpad. Of course we’re used to Mac’s two-finger tap and two-finger scroll trackpad features. What excites us here is that multi-touch innovations created for the iPhone have been adapted for MacBook Air. The new and improved trackpack allows users to pinch (increase or decrease text/photo size), swipe (three finger gesture to scroll through multiple pages) and rotate (photos).

For this new year, if one of your resolutions, like always, includes getting thinner, the new MacBook Air could have you covered. The world’s thinnest notebook has arrived – and check out apple.com/hotnews for the complete list of MacWorld 2008 announcements.