Last week in tech: Alexa, tell me about all the gadget news I missed

We're hurtling toward the holiday shopping season, which means companies are putting the finishing touches on their gadgets and getting them ready for the impending crush of consumerism. This week, we met a bundle of new Alexa-based products from Amazon, and Spotify sent everyone on your friends list into a full-on nostalgia bender. Here's what you might have missed last week. Amazon gave the Echo smart speaker lineup a near-total refresh last week. Taking the place of the old $179 Echo are two new devices: an adorably small $99 Echo speaker, and a $150 Echo Plus--which has bigger speakers and more advanced smart home controls.