cSamsung's launch on Thursday of the the ultra-thin, ultra-light, and premium-design 9 Series laptop puts it head-to-head now with Apple's MacBook Air - and so begins the war of the sleek laptops.

Announcements on Thursday of Apple's revamp of the MacBook Pro and Intel's Thunderbolt universal connection technology may have garnered most of the media's attention, but if what you're looking for is the sleekest, most portable (and fully-capable) notebook now, Samsung has just taken the lead.

Series 9 notebooks have launched in South Korea, Samsung's home country, and are expected to begin selling in the U.S. and other countries in March. Since the MacBook Air isn't due for a refresh for another several months, the Samsung Series 9 may be your most portable, thinnest and lightest laptop option right now.