Compared to the 65,000 applications and games on the iPhone's App Store, the launch of Sony Ericsson's online portal seems like something of a damp squib, with a catalogue of 40 products now available.

But it's undeniably good news that the struggling partnership is finally getting on top of digital distribution. The PlayNow Arena is almost entirely populated by software from Handmark, and with no free applications currently available.

Sony Ericsson has adopted what's becoming the industry standard of a 70/30 revenue split between the developer and the provider, but has also implemented the same minimum application cost as the BlackBerry App World at £2.50 (with the highest priced applications currently at £8.50).

Although there aren't any free applications at the moment, Sony Ericsson is allowing for their distribution through its new system, although it sounds like any ad supported software will still be required to share some of its profits.