Macworld Keynote Recap So Far

As I write this, Steve Jobs has been keynoting for nearly two hours and it appears most of the surprises are out of the bag at this point. I’m sure everyone out there is busy refreshing real-time blogs from Macworld, Engadget and the like. So here’s a very short and sweet recap of what Apple announced today so far:

1. Almost 20 percent of the Apple OS installed base has upgraded to Leopard. Five million copies sold in the first three months of launch.

2. Time Capsule is essentially Time Machine on steroids: an AirPort Extreme base station and hard-drive combined into one unit. This allows Mac users to backup all their machines, wirelessly, to one central location.

3. Apple has sold four million iPhones to date, and as of 3Q07 end the device held almost 20 percent (precisely 19.5 percent) of the U.S. smartphone market.

4. New features for iPhone, including maps “with location” and ability to SMS multiple people at the same time.

5. iPhone updates (mail, maps, stocks, notes, weather enhancements) available in iPod Touch for $20 upgrade.

6. Movie rentals through iTunes. Studios on board: Touchstone, MGM, Miramax, New Line, Lions Gate, WB, Fox, Paramount, Disney, Universal, New Line, Sony. Rentals are $2.99 for library titles, $3.99 for new releases. Prices for HD rentals are slightly higher: $3.99 and $4.99 respectively.

7. Apple TV 2 (free software upgrade): syncs with computer, but no computer is required; you can rent movies straight from your TV.

8. MacBook Air is the major new gadget from Apple: it’s a laptop thin enough to fit into a manila envelope. Its wedge-shaped, 0.16 at its thinnest part. Includes 13.3” widescreen LED-backlit display, built-in iSight camera, full-size keyboard, and multi-touch gesture support on its trackpad. The 80GB hard drive is 1.8” with option for 64GB solid-state disk. 1.6GHz standard, option for 1.8GHz. Five hours of battery life. $1,799, ships in two weeks (can pre-order today).

That’s the recap so far. Let the analysis begin!