It’s Monday, and there’s a lot going on in the world of tech.  Here’s a few things on the docket that are from this past weekend, or are coming soon that are very interesting.

• The Essential phone will be coming to Sprint stores

First reported over the weekend, I saw this article from 9to5Google that caught my eye.  I had lamented with Sean P on the recent Silicon Theory podcast that we might not get a chance to try out in person the new mobile device from Essential until it finds its way into the hands of reviewers – but it looks like those interested can head on over to a Sprint store and get their hands on one.  As the exclusive carrier partner at launch, the idea of being able to get some hands on time with this phone before you buy it will make a large difference in the number of folks who might buy it.  It will work on any US carrier, so fear not – you won’t have to have Sprint service if you do decide to buy it.  A nice luxury of a $699 smartphone.

• The launch of the OnePlus 5 will be on June 20th

It seemed like we had almost no info on this new device, and the the leaks just started to come, one after the other.  With the existence of the dual cameras, and potential for improved water and dust resistance as well as stock Android and excellent performance, there are lot of reasons to get excited about the upcoming release of this device.  The matte black version of the previous OnePlus 3T was a very hot seller, and sold out in its somewhat limited release very quickly.  Silicon Theory has a client that will more than likely obtain this phone for his own purposes, but we will also be reviewing it as well.  And both of us are very much looking forward to doing so.

• Samsung’s Note 8 likely to have rear fingerprint scanner

via GSMArena

This comes as a bit of a disappointment, and many (including us) were hoping that they would have solved the “scanner under glass” latency issues in time to make it into the next Note device from Sammy.  But a leak of alleged schematics shows the biometric unlock location as squarely on the back (in a much better position than on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ I might add) – now, these are schematics, and subject to as much conjecture as you can hit them with. But since the announcement of the Notes historically takes place in the August timeframe (with a September release) we (and Samsung) are running out of time to make this magic happen.

Since production and testing will need to take place soon, you can be sure that if these schematics prove out, we will have more evidence of that very soon.

• Google may have trimmed their 2017 phone list

Reports are circulating from multiple outlets that the initial list of 3 devices scheduled to be released under the Pixel brand from Google later on this year has been cut down to 2. The good folks over at Droid-Life are picking up this story from Android Police that one of the code names that was being used internally at Google to identify one of the devices (referred to as likely the Pixel XL2) is going to limited in favor of its even larger variant.  As with the Samsung Galaxy line, the rumor is that they are going to shift to an 18:9 aspect ration and corresponding form factor, so this might mean nothing more than Google doesn’t feel like they need a Pixel and Pixel XL and Pixel XXL, since the footprint for a bezel-less design allows for much more screen real estate in a much smaller form factor.  Or it could be something else entirely.  If we hear more, we will be sure to pass it along, and I for one have my eyes and ears open at all times for Pixel rumors.

Happy Monday everyone!