Google set to flex hardware muscle in new strategy for internet giant

SAN FRANCISCO – A high-profile Google event Tuesday is widely expected to highlight a new emphasis on hardware, challenging rivals Apple and Amazon and launching a new strategy for the online giant. While the company has offered no official preview, it is expected to unveil a new line of Google-branded smartphones, a tablet and a home virtual assistant. Analysts anticipate that the internet titan will expand on a vision laid out by chief Sundar Pichai at its developers conference early this year. The strategy would seek to take Google's strength in software and merge that with its devices as Apple, Amazon and smartphone leader Samsung all work to get a tighter grip on consumers. Google fired off a Twitter message with hashtag #madebygoogle and a video of what appeared to be a long rectangular search term box morphing into a silhouette of a smartphone.