5 Predictions for Mobile Tech in 2013

If denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, then mobile isn’t just a city in Alabama. And if 2012 proved one thing, it’s that there’s no denying mobile is the present and future of technology.

Sales figures for mobile devices reached new heights in 2012. Market research firm Gartner predicted tablet sales would near 120 million, about doubling the total sold in 2011.

[More from Mashable: Would You Make Your Kid Sign a Contract to Use an iPhone?]

In addition, the number of active smartphones eclipsed 1 billion during the past year. That’s one for every seven people on the planet. And while it took almost two decades to reach 1 billion active smartphones, research firm Strategy Analytics projects there will be 2 billion by 2015, fueled by growth in developing economies in China, India and Africa.

It’s not just phones and tablets though. All sorts of smart mobile technology flourished in 2012, from watches and wristbands to glasses that can project video on the inside of the lenses. Speaking of glasses, in April, Google sent the tech world into a tizzy when it unveiled plans for a futuristic headset called Project Glass.

[More from Mashable: ‘Offensive Combat’ Brings Hardcore Gaming to Facebook]

Well, if you think mobile came a long way in 2012, this year could be even better. Here’s an outline of where we think mobile technology is headed in 2013.

Brand Wars Will Drive Innovation

In terms of smartphones, mobile in 2013 will be like an evening of boxing. For the main event, heavyweights Apple and Samsung will square off to see which can produce the world’s most popular device.

The Samsung Galaxy III recently dethroned the iPhone for that honor. While Apple went conservative with new features on the iPhone 5, Samsung went bold, equipping the Galaxy S III with an enormous 4.8-inch display, near field communication (NFC) technology (more on this later), a burst-shooting camera and a voice-enabled assistent akin to the iPhone’s Siri.

Apparently, Apple is preparing to counter-punch. There are already rumors that Apple is testing its next iPhone, identified as “iPhone 6.1″ which runs iOS 7.

Behind the iPhone and Galaxy a host of capable contenders are hungry for a shot at the belt, including devices from Motorola, HTC and Nokia.

There might even be some new players in the game. It seems likely that Amazon will debut a Kindle Phone sometime in 2013. There was even talk that Facebook was working on its own smartphone, but CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg squelched those rumors in September.

What does this all this mean for us? It means better phones. Competition drives innovation. Look for these brands to consistently try to one-up one another with faster processors, better cameras and more innovative features.

That’s not the only battle that will play out in 2013. Another one to watch will be the fight for third place in mobile operating systems. Android is the undisputed number one with nearly 75% global market share. While Apple’s iOS is miles behind Android, it is still firmly entrenched at number two.

In 2013, the top two contenders for third place will be Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10, which is expected to launch in the coming months.

A few dark horses are running in this race for third. Mozilla plans to launch a Firefox OS sometime during 2013. Then, there is Tizen, a Linux-based mobile OS. Samsung recently revealed plans to release Tizen-based devices in 2013.

Both Firefox and Tizen are open source mobile operating systems, but they won’t be the only ones. There are two other open source mobile operating systems to watch going forward. Jolla expects to release smartphones and possibly tablets running its Sailfish OS in 2013; and Ubuntu-based smartphones should hit the market by early 2014.

No NFC Mobile Payment, Yet

Before leaving the house, most will check to make sure they have three things: keys, wallet and cellphone. Well, thanks to NFC technology, cellphones might soon lighten the load by essentially replacing wallets with an “e-wallet.”

It seems like we have been talking about NFC for years now. Basically, it enables two devices to make a very short-range and secure connection through radio technology. If a smartphone is equipped with NFC, as are most newer-model Androids, and if a retailer has an NFC terminal, one could make a purchase by simply tapping the phone on the terminal.

NFC technology also has other applications, such as data transfer between phones, but mobile payments is the feature most often discussed.

Services like Isis and Google Wallet are already in place. They secure one’s payment information within a device.

The reason why mobile payment through NFC has not yet hit the mainstream is that device penetration is not at the point where it has prompted retailers to update their technology. Basically, not enough smartphones have the technology. Androids have started to adapt, but unlike iPhones, Android hardware is not uniform across the various devices.

While the wheels have been in motion for some time, they’re really spinning now that most new Androids, including the Galaxy S III, come with NFC. If Apple releases a new iPhone during 2013, and if Apple decides to include NFC this time around, it will probably tip the scales in favor of rapid adoption of mobile payment.

Even if all that does happen, however, there probably won’t be a new iPhone until later in the year, so odds are you’re not going to see NFC penetrate the mainstream during 2013. Maybe 2014 will finally be the year of NFC.

Flexible Smartphones

Here’s something you never knew you needed — a flexible smartphone. These devices will be lighter, more durable and the screen will be bendable. This feat is possible by making the display out of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and shielding it in plastic rather than glass. Samsung is reportedly moving forward with plans to start producing a bendable phone.

Samsung is not the only player in this game, however. Many companies are developing bendable screens. At Nokia World in London in 2011, Nokia showed off a device which not only bends but is controlled by bending. Check it out in the video below.

Since there are quite a few companies working on this, it seems likely that one will try to be first to market in 2013. There are rumors that the next model of Samsung’s Galaxy will feature a bendable HD display. We’ll find out much more about this at the Consumer Electronics Show, scheduled for next week. Stay tuned for updates.

The Future of Smartphone Cameras

Cameras and phones have been married for about a decade (they dated, previously). In that time, the relationship has been constantly improving in terms of specs, which has led to higher-quality photographs.

Nokia upped the ante significantly in 2012 when it released the 808 PureView, a smartphone equipped with a 41-megapixel camera. The iPhone 5 has an eight-megapixel camera. Granted, more megapixels doesn’t necessarily equate to better pictures, but it’s certainly one important element. The gallery below features pictures taken with the 808 PureView.

Nokia 808 PureView

The Nokia 808 PureView comes in several colors. It’s heavier than your average phone, with the camera lens protruding from the back. By far its most interesting feature is the 41-megapixel camera, which takes amazing photos.

Click here to view this gallery.

In 2013, we can not only expect more megapixels, and better sensors, flashlights and shutter speeds from smartphone cameras; there are also some futuristic developments in the works.

One most likely to hit the market in 2013: a sensor developed by Toshiba that will allow users to adjust the area of focus of a shot during post-processing, much like with a Lytro cameras.

Another development to anticipate is greater availability and lower cost for smartphone cameras that shoot 3D photos and video.

While all of these improvements are exciting, it’s not just smartphones that are getting better cameras. Better cameras are literally being turned into smartphones. In 2012, Samsung released a Galaxy Camera which Mashable’s tech editor Pete Pachal described as an “incredible device.”

Connected cameras might not become the norm in 2013, but they will definitely become more common.

Eventually, there could even be cameras that have the ability to penetrate objects such as thin walls, clothing or even skin. While the technology is in place, don’t look for it in 2013. The world probably isn’t ready for x-ray vision quite yet.

Wearable Tech

It’s not enough to carry technology anymore. Nowadays people want to wear it, too.

In April, the Pebble Watch, which integrates with both Android and iOS devices, received Kickstarter funding totaling over $ 10 million from nearly 70,000 backers. Pebble still has not shipped watches. It is currently accepting pre-orders, but has not announced a release date. It’s relatively safe to assume these watches will be available in 2013.

Although there are other smart watches currently available, Pebble may face some serious competition if the rumors about Apple producing a smart watch prove true. In fact, Apple recently received 22 patents that would enable the company to move forward with a range of wearable smart technology, including sneakers, shirts, skiing gear and more.

Patents alone mean very little. So unless you hear otherwise, don’t expect Apple smartpants (which, if they do happen, should definitely be called “smartypants”) anytime during 2013.

And speaking of extremely exciting wearable technology that probably won’t happen during 2013, let’s all re-watch this video for Google Glass while wistfully longing for the future to arrive.

On the bright side, since we survived the Mayan apocalypse, it looks like we might eventually make it to the future, after all. In case you hadn’t noticed, it seems pretty obvious that when we get there, glorious mobile technology will abound.

Images courtesy of Flickr, SETUP Utrecht, John Biehler and via Isis

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Professional Bull Riders: Who Is the Sexiest Cowboy Alive?

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By Rennie Dyball

01/04/2013 at 03:45 PM EST

The bulls are back in town – and they're bringing a bunch of strapping cowboys with them.

The Professional Bull Riders kick off their 2013 season Friday at N.Y.C.'s Madison Square Garden with a whole lot of cowboy hats, chaps and swagger.

In the arena, the riders will battle it out atop the toughest bulls in the world, but here on PEOPLE.com, we're pitting them against each other. Get to know a little bit about these top 25 bull riders in the most dangerous eight seconds in sports and let us know who you think is the sexiest of them all. (Scroll through the carousel above for more photos of our top five if you're on a desktop or laptop computer.)

From left: Guilherme Marchi, Luke Snyder, J.B. Mauney, Silvano Alves and Douglas Duncan

Courtesy of PBR and Bull Stock Media

Guilherme Marchi
A former world champion, Marchi (nicknamed "Hollywood" for his movie-star looks) fought and scraped his way through the 2012 season, only to come up just short of another gold buckle. And his year wasn't without distractions: the Brazilian cowboy's wife, Patricia, suffered major injuries in a rodeo accident. She's since recovered, and this 30-year-old family man often gives shout-outs to his two young children on the PBR telecasts.

Luke Snyder
Snyder, 30, won readers' hearts last year when he wed Jen Manna in a rustic, romantic celebration. His bride may sum up the Missouri man's appeal best: "He was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't get enough of that hat, that accent!" the new Mrs. Snyder told PEOPLE of first meeting her future husband. "I don't think I'd ever met a cowboy before. But I just thought he was the bee's knees."

J.B. Mauney
Newlywed and new dad Mauney, 25, made history in his sport last year after a broken hand nearly ended his season. Never one to sit out a competition, he did the nearly impossible and switched riding hands (riders use one hand to hold their bull rope while the other hand is raised in the air). PBR co-founder Ty Murray likened the move to a major league pitcher switching his throwing arm. Look for the now-healthy North Carolina cowboy to pick the toughest bulls and swing for the fences all season. "Anytime somebody tells me I can't do something," Mauney has said, "I'm gonna try everything I can to do it."

Silvano Alves
In October, Alves became the first back-to-back PBR World Champion in history. "Every bull rider dreams of winning the world championship. To do it twice is very special," says the 25-year-old Brazilian rider, who took home top honors in 2011 just after being crowned Rookie of the Year. But he's managed to stay humble amid all the records he's broken. "No one's ever done this before and I didn't think I could ever do it," he said last fall. "From when I was little I never would have dreamed I could do this."

Douglas Duncan
After growing up in a ranching family, Duncan says he's into everything about the lifestyle. "I love waking up in the morning, putting on my hat; I love everything about being a cowboy." To keep in shape, the 25-year-old Texan focuses on stretching, core work and riding – both horses and bulls. After hip surgery sidelined him last year, Duncan is hoping to crack the top ranks of the sport.

Runners up: For their classic cowboy names alone, (other than Pistol, these are all their genuine given names), we're granting these guys honorable mentions in the sexy race.

• Stormy Wing: The 23-year-old Texan, ranked 17th in the world, says his parents always planned to name their child Stormy, boy or girl.

• Pistol Robinson: "My dad called me Pistol, and rodeo buddies picked it up," Robinson tells PEOPLE of his longtime nickname (his given name is Caleb). "I lived a double life. Caleb went to school, and Pistol was the bull rider." He broke both legs in a wreck at last year's New York City event, but after a year of grueling rehab, Robinson is eager to compete again.

• Ryan Dirteater: Thanks to his Native American heritage, this aptly named Oklahoma cowboy's nickname is "Cherokee Kid." He's currently ranked 14th going into the 2013 season.

• Chase Outlaw: A rising star in the PBR, 20-year-old Outlaw's style has been likened to that of newly-retired PBR great Chris Shivers.

The Monster Energy Invitational at Madison Square Garden airs Saturday at 10 p.m. ET and Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network. View the full event and TV schedule here.

Who do you think is the Sexiest Cowboy Alive?

Guilherme Marchi

Luke Snyder

J.B. Mauney

Silvano Alves

Douglas Duncan

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.

The long-overdue regulations are aimed at reducing the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The actual number of those sickened is likely much higher.

The FDA's proposed rules would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.

Many responsible food companies and farmers are already following the steps that the FDA would now require them to take. But officials say the requirements could have saved lives and prevented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hit the country in recent years.

In a 2011 outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe that claimed 33 lives, for example, FDA inspectors found pools of dirty water on the floor and old, dirty processing equipment at Jensen Farms in Colorado where the cantaloupes were grown. In a peanut butter outbreak this year linked to 42 salmonella illnesses, inspectors found samples of salmonella throughout Sunland Inc.'s peanut processing plant in New Mexico and multiple obvious safety problems, such as birds flying over uncovered trailers of peanuts and employees not washing their hands.

Under the new rules, companies would have to lay out plans for preventing those sorts of problems, monitor their own progress on those safety efforts and explain to the FDA how they would correct them.

"The rules go very directly to preventing the types of outbreaks we have seen," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods.

The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent almost 2 million illnesses annually, but it could be several years before the rules are actually preventing outbreaks. Taylor said it could take the agency another year to craft the rules after a four-month comment period, and farms would have at least two years to comply — meaning the farm rules are at least three years away from taking effect. Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.

The new rules, which come exactly two years to the day President Barack Obama's signed food safety legislation passed by Congress, were already delayed. The 2011 law required the agency to propose a first installment of the rules a year ago, but the Obama administration held them until after the election. Food safety advocates sued the administration to win their release.

The produce rule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farmers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafy greens and other foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that produces green beans that will be canned and cooked, for example, would not be regulated.

Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that outbreaks are bad for business, has brought the produce industry and much of the rest of the food industry on board as Congress and FDA has worked to make food safer.

In a statement Friday, Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, said the food safety law "can serve as a role model for what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together to achieve a common goal."

The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify overseas food is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.

Food safety advocates frustrated over the last year as the rules stalled praised the proposed action.

"The new law should transform the FDA from an agency that tracks down outbreaks after the fact, to an agency focused on preventing food contamination in the first place," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

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Data helps pace Wall Street higher, but Apple drags

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its biggest weekly gain in over a year after a jobs report showed employers kept the pace of hiring steady in December.

The Labor Department said payrolls outside the farming sector grew by 155,000 jobs last month, slightly below November's level. Gains in employment were distributed broadly throughout the economy, from manufacturing and construction to healthcare.

Also helping to keep equities afloat was data from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. service sector activity expanding the most in 10 months.

"It feels like the economy, we're not burning the barn down, but we are doing fine - we seem to be growing and the fiscal cliff does not seem to have weighed too much on December employment," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

The S&P 500 index's weekly gain would be its largest since December 2011. The majority of the gains were achieved earlier in the holiday-shortened week, including the largest daily gain for the benchmark S&P index in more than a year on Wednesday, after a deal was struck in Washington to avert the "fiscal cliff."

"So far there is nothing that has come out that has been negative following the push, they tried to read into the Fed minutes yesterday and take it down but so far they haven't had much success," Mendelsohn said.

But a drag on Apple Inc shares, down 2.6 percent to $528.36, kept the Nasdaq near the uchanged mark, as the iPhone maker continued its downward path of recent months.

Adding to concerns about Apple's ability to produce more innovative products, rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to widen its lead over Apple in global smartphone sales this year with growth of 35 percent. Market researcher Strategy Analytics said Samsung had a broad product lineup.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 28.46 points, or 0.21 percent, to 13,419.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 5.47 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,464.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added 2.50 points, or 0.08 percent, to 3,103.07.

The CBOE Volatility index <.vix>, a measure of investor anxiety, was on pace for its fourth straight decline, a drop of nearly 40 percent which has pushed the index to its lowest level since September.

Eli Lilly and Co was among the biggest boost's to the S&P, up 3.5 percent to $51.47 after the pharmaceuticals maker said it expects its 2013 earnings to increase to $3.75 to $3.90 per share, excluding items, from $3.30 to $3.40 per share in 2012.

Fellow drugmaker Johnson & Johnson rose 1.2 percent to $71.55 after Deutsche Bank upgraded the Dow component to a "Buy" from a "Hold" rating. The NYSEArca pharmaceutical index <.drg> climbed 0.4 percent.

Shares of Mosaic Co gained 2.7 percent to $58.29. Excluding items, the fertilizer producer's quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The rise in payrolls shown by the jobs data did not make a dent in the still-high U.S. unemployment rate, but it calmed fears about the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve ending its highly stimulative monetary policy.

Concerns about the duration of the Fed's stimulus program prompted a pull-back from the market Thursday after a rally.

Minutes from the Fed's December policy meeting, released Thursday, showed Fed officials were increasingly worried about the risks of asset purchases to financial markets, though they looked set to continue with the open-ended stimulus program for now.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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Abbas sees Palestinian unity as Fatah rallies in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave.

"Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions, said in a televised address to hundreds of thousands of followers marching in Gaza on Friday, with yellow Fatah flags instead of the green of Hamas.

The hardline Hamas movement, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, expelled secular Fatah from Gaza during the war. It gave permission for the rally after the deadlock in peace talks between Abbas's administration and Israel narrowed the two factions' ideological differences.

The Palestinian rivals have drawn closer since Israel's assault on Gaza assault in November, in which Hamas, though battered, claimed victory.

Egypt has long tried to broker Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, but past efforts have foundered over questions of power-sharing, control of weaponry, and to what extent Israel and other powers would accept a Palestinian administration including Hamas.

An Egyptian official told Reuters Cairo was preparing to invite the factions for new negotiations within two weeks.

Israel fears grassroots support for Hamas could eventually topple Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.

"Hamas could seize control of the PA any day," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

The demonstration marked 48 years since Fatah's founding as the spearhead of the Palestinians' fight against Israel. Its longtime leader Yasser Arafat signed an interim 1993 peace accord that won Palestinians a measure of self rule.

Hamas, which rejected the 1993 deal, fought and won a Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006. It formed an uneasy coalition with Fatah until their violent split a year later.

Though shunned by the West, Hamas feels bolstered by electoral gains for Islamist movements in neighboring Egypt and elsewhere in the region - a confidence reflected in the fact Friday's Fatah demonstration was allowed to take place.

"The success of the rally is a success for Fatah, and for Hamas too," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. "The positive atmosphere is a step on the way to regain national unity."

Fatah, meanwhile, has been riven by dissent about the credibility of Abbas's statesmanship, especially given Israel's continued settlement-building on West Bank land. The Israelis quit Gaza unilaterally in 2005 after 38 years of occupation.

"The message today is that Fatah cannot be wiped out," said Amal Hamad, a member of the group's ruling body, referring to the demonstration attended by several Abbas advisers. "Fatah lives, no one can exclude it and it seeks to end the division."

In his speech, Abbas promised to return to Gaza soon and said Palestinian unification would be "a step on the way to ending the (Israeli) occupation".

(Editing by Dan Williams, Alistair Lyon and Jason Webb)

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EU says its Google case not affected by U.S. ruling

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A decision by U.S. regulators to end a probe into whether Google Inc hurt rivals by manipulating internet searches will not affect the European Union‘s examination of the company.

“We have taken note of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) decision, but we don’t see that it has any direct implications for our investigation, for our discussions with Google, which are ongoing,” said Michael Jennings, a spokesman for the European Commission, the EU executive.

U.S. regulators on Thursday ended their investigation into the giant internet company, which runs the world’s most popular search engine.

Other internet companies, such as Microsoft Corp, had complained about Google tweaking its search results to give prominence to its own products. But the FTC said there was not enough evidence to pursue a big search-bias case.

The European Commission has for the past two years been investigating complaints against Google, including claims that it unfairly favored its own services in its search results.

Google presented informal settlement proposals to the Commission in July. On December 18 the Commission gave the company a month to come up with detailed proposals to resolve the investigation.

If it fails to address the complaints and is found guilty, Google could eventually be fined up to 10 percent of its revenue – a fine of up to $ 4 billion.

(Reporting By Ethan Bilby; Editing by Sebastian Moffett and David Goodman)

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Check Out This Year's Victoria's Secret Swim Cover Model

Stylewatch
Style News Now

01/03/2013 at 03:00 PM ET

Courtesy Victoria’s Secret

While most of the country is hiding from cold temps, the Victoria’s Secret Angels are heating things up! The ladies star in the 2013 swim catalogue — in mailboxes nationwide today — and South African beauty Candice Swanepoel has the privilege (again) of covering the coveted issue.

“It was such an honor to be picked for the cover,” the model tells PEOPLE. “It is such an iconic catalogue. Before I was a model, I used to see Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks and all of those iconic women on it. It is amazing that a little South African girl can get on the cover.”

In her big shot, Swanepoel wears a Very Sexy bandeau top — one Victoria’s Secret’s newest offerings for 2013 (in stores and online today). “I love it — it’s so sexy and gives me amazing cleavage,” the model shares.

For this catalogue, Swanepoel and her Angel pals hit the beaches of Miami and Turks and Caicos, and were shot by famed photographer Russell James. And though there is always pressure to look perfect in pictures, Swanepoel says she was never nervous during her shoot.

“Victoria’s Secret is like a big family,” she explains. “The swim shoots are always really fun, and I love being on the beach. I can’t really complain [about my job] — I feel very lucky!”

This year, the company is offering a little something extra for swim fans in the form of the new Angels & Artists video series, which basically pairs hot songs with hot models in bikinis. The first clip in the series, “Bikinis & Bruno Mars” (below), features Swanepoel and Doutzen Kroes making waves to the tune of Mars’s “Locked Out of Heaven.” Additional videos featuring music and models will be released throughout swimsuit season.

If this catalogue leaves you wanting more, you’re in luck: three more catalogues, shot in Tulum and St. Barth’s, will hit mailboxes throughout the season.

–Kate Hogan

PHOTOS: WANT TO GET BIKINI-READY? SHOP THIS STAR-INSPIRED WORKOUT GEAR!

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CDC: 1 in 24 admit nodding off while driving

NEW YORK (AP) — This could give you nightmares: 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fell asleep while driving.

And health officials behind the study think the number is probably higher. That's because some people don't realize it when they nod off for a second or two behind the wheel.

"If I'm on the road, I'd be a little worried about the other drivers," said the study's lead author, Anne Wheaton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the CDC study released Thursday, about 4 percent of U.S. adults said they nodded off or fell asleep at least once while driving in the previous month. Some earlier studies reached a similar conclusion, but the CDC telephone survey of 147,000 adults was far larger. It was conducted in 19 states and the District of Columbia in 2009 and 2010.

CDC researchers found drowsy driving was more common in men, people ages 25 to 34, those who averaged less than six hours of sleep each night, and — for some unexplained reason — Texans.

Wheaton said it's possible the Texas survey sample included larger numbers of sleep-deprived young adults or apnea-suffering overweight people.

Most of the CDC findings are not surprising to those who study this problem.

"A lot of people are getting insufficient sleep," said Dr. Gregory Belenky, director of Washington State University's Sleep and Performance Research Center in Spokane.

The government estimates that about 3 percent of fatal traffic crashes involve drowsy drivers, but other estimates have put that number as high as 33 percent.

Warning signs of drowsy driving: Feeling very tired, not remembering the last mile or two, or drifting onto rumble strips on the side of the road. That signals a driver should get off the road and rest, Wheaton said.

Even a brief moment nodding off can be extremely dangerous, she noted. At 60 mph, a single second translates to speeding along for 88 feet — the length of two school buses.

To prevent drowsy driving, health officials recommend getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, treating any sleep disorders and not drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel.

__

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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Wall Street edges lower after Fed minutes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed growing concern about the risks of its highly stimulative monetary policy.

Despite the concerns about the effects of its asset purchases, the Fed look set to continue its open-ended stimulus program for now.

The minutes from the December meeting showed a growing reticence about further increases in the central bank's $2.9 trillion balance sheet, which it expanded sharply in response to the financial crisis and recession of 2007-2009.

Stocks had pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index 4.3 percent higher during a two-day run as investors turned their focus to upcoming battles in Congress, including likelihood of bitter fights over spending cuts and raising the federal debt ceiling.

"As we look down the pathway here, there are some real issues in front of the market. There is going to be a new battle in two months over the debt ceiling and sequestration and fourth-quarter earnings are going to start to come into focus," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

"There are some issues out there that could hold this market back, but on the other side of the ledger, zero interest rates are a tremendous stock market flotation device."

The rally in equities began on the last day of 2012 on optimism a deal would be reached to avert the "fiscal cliff," and avoid a possible recession. Gains continued on Wednesday, the first trading day of 2013, with Wall Street's best performance since December 20, 2011 after Congress approved a fiscal compromise.

Retailers advanced after several major companies in the sector beat expectations of modest sales increases in December, with the S&P retail index <.spxrt> up 0.8 percent and the Morgan Stanley retail index <.mvr> up 0.6 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 17.47 points, or 0.13 percent, to 13,395.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> shed 2.30 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,460.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> dipped 5.19 points, or 0.17 percent, to 3,107.07.

Economic data showed U.S. private-sector employers shrugged off a looming budget crisis and stepped up hiring in December, offering further evidence of underlying strength in the economy as 2012 ended.

The government's broader monthly payrolls report, due on Friday, is expected to show the economy created 150,000 jobs compared with 146,000 in November, according to a Reuters poll. The U.S. unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 7.7 percent.

Retailers advanced after several major companies in the sector beat expectations of modest sales increases in December, with the S&P retail index <.spxrt> up 0.8 percent and the Morgan Stanley retail index <.mvr> up 0.6 percent.

Shares in Costco Wholesale Corp rose 1.4 percent to $102.85 after the company reported a better-than-expected 9 percent rise in December sales at stores open at least a year.

Gap Inc stock climbed 3.1 percent to $32.33 following news that the retailer will buy women's fashion boutique Intermix Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Family Dollar Stores Inc stumbled 12 percent to $56.38 on the company's report of lower-than-expected quarterly profit.

(Additional reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Bernadette Baum and Kenneth Barry)

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Syria rebels in push to capture air base

AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - Rebels battled on Thursday to seize an air base in northern Syria, part of a campaign to fight back against the air power that has given President Bashar al-Assad's forces free rein to bomb rebel-held towns.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the 21-month-old uprising and civil war, the United Nations said this week, sharply raising the death toll estimate in a conflict that shows no sign of ending.

After dramatic advances over the second half of 2012, the rebels now hold wide swathes of territory in the north and east, but are limited in exerting control because they cannot protect towns and villages from Assad's helicopters and jets.

Hundreds of fighters from rebel groups were attempting to storm the Taftanaz air base, near the northern highway that links Syria's two main cities, Aleppo and the capital Damascus.

Rebels have been besieging air bases across the north in recent weeks, in the hope this will reduce the government's power to carry out air strikes and resupply loyalist-held areas.

A rebel fighter speaking from near the Taftanaz base overnight said the base's main sections were still in loyalist hands but insurgents had managed to infiltrate and destroy a helicopter and a fighter jet on the ground.

The northern rebel Idlib Coordination Committee said the rebels had detonated a car bomb inside the base.

The government's SANA news agency said the base had not fallen and that the military had "strongly confronted an attempt by the terrorists to attack the airport from several axes, inflicting heavy losses among them and destroying their weapons and munitions".

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the opposition-aligned Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which monitors the conflict from Britain, said as many as 800 fighters were involved in the assault, including Islamists from Jabhat al-Nusra, a powerful group that Washington considers terrorists.

Taftanaz is mainly a helicopter base, used for missions to resupply army positions in the north, many of which are cut off by road because of rebel gains, as well as for dropping crude "barrel bombs" of explosives on rebel-controlled areas.

"WHAT IS THE FAULT OF THE CHILDREN?"

Near Minakh, another northern air base that rebels have surrounded, government forces have retaliated by regularly shelling and bombing nearby towns.

In the town of Azaz, where the bombardment has become a near nightly occurrence, shells hit a family house overnight. Zeinab Hammadi said her two wounded daughters, aged 10 and 12, had been rushed across the border to Turkey, one with her brain exposed.

"We were sleeping and it just landed on us in the blink of an eye," she said, weeping as she surveyed the damage.

Family members tried to salvage possessions from the wreckage, men lifting out furniture and children carrying out their belongings in tubs.

"He (Assad) wants revenge against the people," said Abu Hassan, 33, working at a garage near the destroyed house. "What is the fault of the children? Are they the ones fighting?"

Opposition activists said warplanes struck a residential building in another rebel-held northern town, Hayyan, killing at least eight civilians.

Video footage showed men carrying dismembered bodies of children and dozens of people searching for victims in the rubble of the destroyed building, shouting "God is greatest". The provenance of the video could not be independently confirmed.

In addition to their tenuous grip on the north, the rebels also hold a crescent of suburbs on the edge of Damascus, which have come under bombardment by government forces that control the center of the capital.

On Wednesday, according to opposition activists, dozens of people were incinerated in an inferno caused by an air strike on a petrol station in a Damascus suburb where residents were lining up for precious fuel.

The civil war in Syria has become the longest and bloodiest of the conflicts that rose out of uprisings across the Arab world in the past two years.

Assad's family has ruled for 42 years since his father seized power in a coup. The war pits rebels, mainly from the Sunni Muslim majority, against a government supported by members of Assad's Shi'ite-derived Alawite minority sect and some members of other minorities who fear revenge if he falls.

The West, most Sunni-ruled Arab states and Turkey have called for Assad to leave power. He is supported by Russia and Shi'ite Iran.

(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

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