The updated MacBook Air was unveiled today and case manufacturers are already on the case, so to speak. WaterField Designs is launching a new lineup of cases for your new MacBook Air. The Smart Case will protect your MacBook Air and keep it looking great.

It comes in two sizes, 11.6 or 13.1 inches. The case features a nylon exterior that is water-resistant, with a padded interior, an Ultrasuede scratch-free liner and eco-friendly distressed brown leather. You paid quite a bit for your new toy, so you may as well protect it.

Is that a MacBook Air? Why no, it’s MIC’s new Aluminum Keyboard Buddy Case, which offers both a protective case and an almost full QWERTY keyboard for your iPad 2. When you close it, the Buddy Case’s magnets will even put your iPad to sleep.

It is powered by a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery and will cost you $50. It only holds your iPad at one angle though which is annoying.

Your business associates should know where you stand in the whole Mac versus PC thing so make it easy for them to see with this MacBook Business Card holder. It has a little keyboard, a dock, and a menu bar and the screen is replaced by a compact mirror, so you can fix your hair.

Miniature versions of the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air are available. The card holders will cost you around $30, assuming you can navigate though the product page which is Japanese, to make the purchase.

I’m not sure why on Earth you would want to, but the U-Suit Case makes your Macbook Air look a lot like a Dell. Most users who love their Macbook Air, probably aren’t very fond of the Dell Inspiron. But should you happen to love both, the U-Suit Premium from Uniea will let you rock both worlds.

Just slip the case made of napa leather on to your Macbook Air. It comes in black and red and is scratch resistant and impact resistant. The detailing is really nice and your laptop will be quite a conversation piece since it can’t make up it’s mind. Is it a Mac or a Dell?

It’s just not cool to drop lots of cash on a svelte notebook like the MacBook Air and then have to pair it with an ugly, fat, and plain external hard drive that is just too ugly to be associated with a MacBook Air. The good news for you is that Iomega has a new hard drive that is the perfect Air external drive.

The USB 2.0 hard drive is called the Iomega eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive. The drive is encased in aluminum, the same shiny hue as the Air, and shares the Air’s thin profile. The Helium is a mere 16mm thick and weighs only 7 ounces. Inside the thin case is a 2.5-inch 320GB hard drive.

I’ve seen both love and hate toward some other MacBook Air cases, I guess it all depends on what your style is. This one is sure to please just because it’s different. The ivolution Leather Macbook Air Case from Vaja is…a leather case for your MacBook Air. It’s gotta beat a manilla folder right? It provides some protection from those sharp edges and has a nice sleek and fitted look. What the hell, make your MacBook more like your car interior.

Agent 18, a maker of primarily cases for portable media players like the iPod, is unveiling today a new case for the popular MacBook Air. It is called the MacBook Air Shield and you’ll find it retailing for around $50.

The Agent 18 MacBook Air Shield is made of durable polycarbonate and available in three colors, including white, black and pink. Agent 18 says the case offers fully functional protection with sacrificing “any style of the world’s thinnest notebook.”

Speck earlier this month unveiled a couple of new cases for the Apple MacBook Air and the 20-inch iMac. These new SeeThru Hard Shells are priced both at around $50.

The Speck SeeThru Hard Shell for the MacBook Air is a two-piece snap design made of plastic. It offers access to all ports, the keyboard and other external items. The case is a clear design and is reportedly shatter proof as well. It comes in multiple colors, including clear, smoke, red, bronze and pink.

Taking a queue from the marketing folks for Apple’s new MacBook Air, Timbuk2 has announced the Steve Sleeve. The thin case designed specifically for the notebook resembles the manila envelope that Apple uses in their commercials and that Steve Jobs used to originally present the Macbook Air.

Timbuk2 assures us that when the Steve Sleeve actually starts shipping in March we’ll find that it’s much tougher than a standard manila enveloper, however. It has a soft low-pile fleece lining (from recycle-ready poly no less), an exterior made from the same stuff as mountaineering jackets, ultrasonic welds on the seems and brushed (recyclable) aluminum buttons.

Photographers traveling on assignment often have to contend with worrying about how their expensive gear will get through handling by security and airline employees. CaseCruzer is introducing what it is calling the toughest airline-legal carry-on case available today – the Photo StudioCruzer 1510 – to help solve this issue.

The CaseCruzer Photo StudioCruzer 1510, priced at around $245, offers a modular interior which will offer photographers some flexibility in how they pack their gear. The case offers up a metal reinforced padlock for security, 17-inch retractable extension handle and buoyancy for when you go on assignment in a canoe.

Jobs and the Apple marketing team have been using a manila envelope to show off just how thin the new MacBook Air really is, but Belkin thinks it has a little bit better carrying case for the new notebook. The new MacBook Air Sleeves come in four different designs ranging from $39.99 to $49.99 that add only slightly more bulk than the Jobs’ envelope.

The sleeves are made from Neoprene and leather and include the Slim-Fit, which has no zippers or magnets, just a sleeve and a flap for $39.99. The Neoprene/Leather model does have an asymmetrical zipper for side or top loading of your MacBook and goes for $49.99. There is also a Vertical Sleeve model with a strap which is designed for use all by itself also for $29.99 along with the Expression Sleeve which also features a strap. The other Sleeves are tailored a little more to be carried inside another bag.

In the keynote speech yesterday at MacWorld Jobs brushed over the MacBook Air SuperDrive fairly quickly giving the message that the need for optical drives are becoming less, especially since the new MacBook Air has no internal optical drive. According to Apple it can download what software it needs through the internet and connect wirelessly to the Time Capsule for backing up and storing data. Apple does know that the end of optical drives is still a ways off and created this MacBook Air SuperDrive as an external optical drive accessory to the MacBook Air, and ONLY for the MacBook Air according to the specs.

It connects and is powered through a single standard USB cable that’s built into the drive so the MacBook Air will power the SuperDrive both when plugged in and when on batteries. The slot-loading SuperDrive is not much bigger than a CD case at 5.47 x 5.47 x 0.67 inches, and weighs 1.09 pounds. It also has some decent speeds with writing CD-Rs at 24x and double-layer DVDs at 4x.