On Wednesday, Amazon will hold its big product event for the year, during which we usually get upgrades to popular devices like the Echo Dot, which normally starts at $50 but is regularly on sale for as little as $19.

But Amazon is also known for throwing wacky ideas at the wall to see what sticks, like adding Alexa smarts to a microwave or an analog clock.

Last year, the company unveiled the Amazon Glow for kids and the Halo View fitness tracker.

Amazon has also been expanding its Prime Video service with live events like NFL Thursday Night Football games.

Amazon's event is scheduled to start Wednesday, Sept.

Amazon's event will be invite-only for the press and won't be streamed publicly like some other companies' events are.

Amazon's product event has become an annual tradition now, including expected updates for the company's Fire Tablets, among other things.

This is the first time Amazon has held two such events in one year.

I'm not sure that we'll hear very many specifics like that on Wednesday, but it's still something to watch for?

One of the big questions as we gear up for Amazon's fall event is whether or not we'll hear any new details about Matter, the universal smart home standard that's set to launch sometime by the end of this year.

It's a competitive category where Amazon might still see plenty of potential for growth, so it'll be interesting to hear Ring's latest pitch.

We'll find out Wednesday at Amazon's fall hardware and services event, where it's a very safe bet that we'll be hearing about new devices for the Ring lineup?

Two years ago, the brand unveiled its flying, autonomous Always Home Cam, and last year, Amazon opened the device up for pre-order invitations.

Amazon may want to try leveraging these mega-properties to have more presence on the devices it's sure to show off Wednesday, even if it's just cameos.

Devices usually get the main spotlight at Amazon's fall event, but right now Amazon is in the thick of its two most ambitious video projects ever, so I'll be keeping my eyes out for nuggets about the Lord of the Rings prequel series The Rings of Power and NFL Thursday Night Football. .

Our live blog of Amazon's 2022 product event is kicking off

PT Wednesday, we'll continue updating with up-to-the-minute announcements, product images and everything else you could need