Xperia Play 'Donor' ad shows how Android got its thumbs

If you've watched the creepy Xperia Play "Android thumbs ad" and wondered about the backstory of the thumbs in question, then you'll be relieved to hear that Sony Ericsson has provided you with the answers you crave in a brand new commercial.

The ad, entitled "The Donor", tells the chilling story of a man brutally robbed of his opposable digits by Sony Ericsson just so you can play Tekken on your phone. Check it out for yourself after the jump. The Xperia Play is due out in Europe later this month.

Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play

Great graphics are often a component of great video games, but fancy physics can help too, and last week Havok announced that it was bringing those to Android, along with all of the requisite development tools. That means smartphones with Android 2.3 or up can potentially enjoy the same procedural animations and pretty dresses that we've enjoyed on PC and home console for years, and as the first gamer-centric smartphone with Gingerbread on board, Sony Ericsson's forthcoming Xperia Play got to be the first to demo them. Watch a pickup plow through road hazards, a gorilla get catapulted across a football field, and an Assassin's Creed-esque warrior run, jump and climb with the best of them in the video above. Oh, and just so you know, we got a (very brief) hands-on with all three demos in person at GDC 2011 last week, and each was practically enjoyable enough to be an Android game of its own. The realistically bouncing ball's in your court, developers. Don't let us down.