Amazon's Alexa is coming for your microwave, wall clock and more

Will it soon feel normal to say, "Alexa, microwave one bag of popcorn"? Like a rebooted Sharper Image catalogue, Amazon is adding its talking artificial intelligence to a microwave, a wall clock, a wall plug, cars and more. The new gadgets all hook into the Internet, take voice commands -- and make the online retail giant even more central to home life. The question is: Will families see these connected devices as conveniences, new complications -- or spies? Amazon's goal is to assert leadership over Google and Apple in the still-nascent market for smart-home tech, with everyday appliances connecting to the Internet to automate operations -- and gather all sorts of data on our lives.