Amazon is holding a "devices and services" event at its HQ in Seattle on 25 September.
It's a fair bet that we'll be getting at least some new Echo devices at the event, but the fact "services" are included in the event description probably means there will be at least some time dedicated to talking about Amazon Prime (Video) and Alexa. There may also be talk about home security involving Alexa Guard plus Amazon-owned Blink and Ring.
In other words, it may not be such a spree of hardware as we saw this time last year.
Last September Amazon held a similarly-timed event in Seattle which Pocket-lint attended. There it launched the latest Echo Plus and Echo Dot and added the Echo Sub and Echo Input (pictured above from last year). It also trailed a load of other devices such as the Echo Clock and Alexa microwave which have launched since.
So what will we see at this event? Although the current Echo Plus is a pretty good speaker with Dolby-enhanced audio, we reckon Amazon will take things a bit upmarket and produce an Alexa smart speaker that's more like the Apple HomePod, with beefed-up room-filling audio. We've heard a few rumblings over recent months that this is in development although Amazon device chief Dave Limp told Cnet a couple of years back that this wasn't on the cards. Times change though...
We also think the standard Echo will get a refresh as that's now a couple of years old. The Echo Show may also get a refresh - even though it's just 12 months old, the big bezels and sub-standard screen mean it's ripe for renewal.