If you can get this to work, it smacks of the awesome. The guys at The Unofficial Apple Weblog, who received a tip from reader Rowan Pope, have pointed out his blog entry (the server seems to be down at the moment) in which the MacBook Air owner seems to have discovered that the laptop can support up to seven USB connections.

The air, once opened, apparently features extra live USB port connections built into the computer. John Maushammer apparently downloaded documentation for the ICH-8 chip, which offers five low-speed and two high-speed USB controllers.

During his experiment, Maushammer opened his MacBook Air and measured the voltage at each pin. He then used a hacked memory key with a modded USB extension cable equipped with an extra pin. After connecting the memory key to one of the pins, his MacBook Air system log reported a USB error. After additional tests and adjustments, the laptop recognized the external drive.

All in all, Maushammer found three working USB connections as well as an unused SATA controller.

Incredibly cool stuff and if you've opened your MacBook Air and noticed some other cool bits, let us know in the comments or forums.