Steve Jobs' Tokyo keynote beamed to… Croydon

UK computer superstore chain PC World will be opening later to stream Apple CEO Steve Jobs' MacWorld Expo Tokyo keynote onto the big screen in its store in... er... Croydon.

Why this southern suburb of London - incidentally, the former home of London's international airport - should be chosen, we're not entirely sure, but PC Worlders will be handing out sushi, demonstrating Macs before finally hinting that maybe a Windows machine might be better.

That, at least, has been our experience of the Dixons Group owned megastore on the various occasions we've visited them. Not the Croydon store, it has to be said, where we assume they're all splendidly loyal to the Mac. And no doubt the Croydon store is one of the better sellers of Mac kit in the chain.

Whatever, it's a good sign that Apple is engaging with the wider PC sales channel in the UK, having recently instigated another training programme to ensure that staffers in the various Dixons Group stores, including PC World, Dixons and Currys, are up to speed on the latest Macs.

We reckons Jobs' Japanese keynote is due to start around one-ish our time - that's 1AM, not PM. On the day, PC World Croydon will be opening at 11:30PM Wednesday 21 February and shutting at three the following morning.

Will local Apple users be persuaded to stay up late to catch Steve's speech? That remains to be seen, but the event does give a certain credibility to the hints that he'll announce new iMacs equipped with CD-RW drives. Given the way Apple has been running down its iMac inventory over the last few months, the new machines might even go on sale in the wee hours of the 22nd.

If you go, let us know. ®