Hi Jennifer
For the clearest explanation of which passports are acceptable, please have a look at the following page on the US Embassy's website:
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/vwp3.html
According to this page, 'If the passport was issued, renewed/extended on or after October 26, 2006, it must also include an integrated circuit chip capable of storing the biographic information from the data page, a digitized photograph and other biometric information.'
So it sounds to me like you will need to get either a new biometric passport or a visa.
If I were you I would get in touch with the US Embassy to be certain - it may be that your passport IS biometric, as it was issued very recently.
You can call the embassy on 09042 450100, but be warned that calls to this line are charged at £1.20/min from BT landlines.
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Olly, your editor