I braced for a flood of Echo gear at Amazon’s Alexa+ event. It didn’t happen

For me, one of the most surprising things at Amazon’s lavish Alexa+ event earlier this week was what didn’t happen. 

A little backstory: Amazon traditionally trots out its latest devices, including Echo speakers, Ring cameras, Kindle tablets, and more during an annual hardware event in the fall. 

We’re not just talking a few devices, mind you. Oh no, Amazon goes big at these events, aiming a firehose of products at the quivering journalists in attendance. The parade goes at a breathless pace, one after another, so fast that you can barely keep up. 

Uncharacteristically, Amazon held its fire last fall, skipping its usual September event in favor of a smaller, Kindles-only gathering in October, featuring ex-Microsoft exec and new Amazon devices chief Panos Panay. 

So when Amazon announced it was having an “Alexa-focused” event this week, I braced myself. The new AI-enhanced Alexa (which had been originally introduced more than a year ago) was widely expected to be the star of the show, but Amazon being Amazon, I was ready for a flood of new Echo gear to go along with it. 

What could we be getting? A new Echo Dot? Oh, at least, and probably an Echo Show display or two. A new Fire TV powered by the revamped Alexa? Not out of the question. As we settled into our seats, I joked with my editor via Slack that I wouldn’t be surprised if Panay trotted out a humanoid AI Alexa robot—one that would never actually ship, of course. 

But then something funny happened: The flood of new Echo devices turned out to be a drought, with Panay and company focused solely on Alexa+.  

This unexpected change was refreshing from my standpoint, allowing me to go deep on the new Alexa rather than sprinting from one new Amazon product to the next.  

Still, it was a curious choice. Wouldn’t Amazon want to sell new Echo devices to customers signing up for the new Alexa? 

Of course, perhaps the point was that you don’t need a new Echo to partake in the new Alexa. Almost every Echo gadget currently in service is compatible with Alexa+, save for the very earliest Echo speakers and displays. And since Alexa+ will kick off with a free early access period and will eventually be free for Amazon Prime subscribers, many users will be able to try the revamped Alexa for the low price of zilch. 

In any event, when can we expect to see new Echo devices? None other that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just dropped a big hint. 

“We have a brand new lineup of devices that are coming in the fall,” Jassy