Apple, for the first time in years, is hearing footsteps.

The maker of iPhones, iPads and iPods has never faced a challenger able to make a truly popular and profitable smartphone or tablet — not Dell, not Hewlett-Packard, not Nokia, not BlackBerry — until Samsung Electronics.

The South Korean manufacturer’s Galaxy S III smartphone is the first device to run neck and neck with Apple’s iPhone in sales. Armed with other Galaxy phones and tablets, Samsung has emerged as a potent challenger to Apple, the top consumer electronics maker. The two companies are the only ones turning profits in the highly competitive mobile phone industry, with Apple taking 72 percent of the earnings and Samsung the rest.

Yet these two rivals, who have battled in the marketplace and in the courts worldwide, could not be more different. Samsung Electronics, a major part of South Korea’s expansive Samsung Group, makes computer chips and flat-panel displays as well as a wide range of consumer products including refrigerators, washers and dryers, cameras, vacuum cleaners, PCs, printers and TVs.

Where Apple stakes its success on creating new markets and dominating them, as it did with the iPhone and iPad, Samsung invests heavily in studying existing markets and innovating inside them.

“We get most of our ideas from the market,” said Kim Hyun-suk, an executive vice president at Samsung, in a conversation about the future of mobile devices and television. “The market is a driver, so we don’t intend to drive the market in a certain direction,” he said.

That’s in stark contrast to the philosophy of Apple’s founder Steven P. Jobs, who rejected the notion of relying on market research. He memorably said that consumers don’t know what they want.

Nearly everything at Samsung, from the way it does research to its manufacturing, is unlike Apple. It taunts Apple in its cheeky advertisements while Apple stays above the fray.

The company that distills Maker’s Mark is reducing the alcohol content of the famous bourbon in an effort to keep up with growing global appetite for the product, Quartz reports.

The move comes in response to concerns the company won't be able to meet rampant demand for Maker's Mark since it's "very low on supply,” Rob Samuels, COO of Beam Inc. (which also makes the less-expensive Jim Beam bourbon), wrote in an email to consumers. The spirit will now have an alcohol-by-volume content of 42 percent, instead of 45 percent.

Just this year bourbon and Tennessee whiskey sales have risen 5 percent, reflecting the spirits' rising popularity. Bourbon in particular has become so popular that it now accounts for 35 percent of all spirits sales, according to Today. Boutique brands such as Pappy Van Winkle’s are all but impossible to find due to the high demand, WFPL reports.

That means there’s likely a whole lot of bourbon lovers -- who are known to be purists -- who won't be too thrilled with Beam Inc.'s move.

"I just think that's a cheap business practice," Erik Lane, a bartender in Brooklyn, told The New York Post of watering down Maker's Mark. "Usually you're going to notice [an alcohol reduction like] that."

The company is apparently doing all it can to defend the decision, arguing that Marker's Mark with less alcohol is better than no Maker's Mark at all. In his email, Samuels wrote that Maker's Mark remains "completely con
sistent with the taste profile ... created nearly 60 years ago."

For the first time, the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden tells his story — speaking not just about the raid and the three shots that changed history, but about the personal aftermath for himself and his family. And the startling failure of the United States government to help its most experienced and skilled warriors carry on with their lives.

The man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden sat in a wicker chair in my backyard, wondering how he was going to feed his wife and kids or pay for their medical care.

It was a mild spring day, April 2012, and our small group, including a few of his friends and family, was shielded from the sun by the patchwork shadows of maple trees. But the Shooter was sweating as he talked about his uncertain future, his plans to leave the Navy and SEAL Team 6.

He stood up several times with an apologetic gripe about the heat, leaving a perspiration stain on the seat-back cushion. He paced. I didn't know him well enough then to tell whether a glass of his favorite single malt, Lagavulin, was making him less or more edgy.

We would end up intimately familiar with each other's lives. We'd have dinners, lots of Scotch. He's played with my kids and my dogs and been a hilarious, engaging gentleman around my wife.

In my yard, the Shooter told his story about joining the Navy at nineteen, after a girl broke his heart. To escape, he almost by accident found himself in a Navy recruiter's office. "He asked me what I was going to do with my life. I told him I wanted to be a sniper.

"He said, 'Hey, we have snipers.'

"I said, 'Seriously, dude. You do not have snipers in the Navy.' But he brought me into his office and it was a pretty sweet deal. I signed up on a whim."

"That's the reason Al Qaeda has been decimated," he joked, "because she broke my fucking heart."

Rihanna debuted the video for "Stay" on Monday night. The song, a heartfelt ballad that's among the better received tracks off "Unapologetic" is one of two recently released singles of the album.

The video premiered on E! News before making its way online. The music video for "Stay" shows a stripped-down Rihanna, as the singer soaks in a tub, looking vulnerable and forlorn. Never one to shy away from the scandalous, Rihanna appears naked in the video.

"Diamonds" was the only single released before "Unapologetic" hit stores. Def Jam recently announced that it was moving both "Stay" and "Pour It Up." The two songs couldn't be any more different: One is a sensitive ballad about love, loss and broken hearts, while "Pour It Up" sees Rihanna borrowing heavily from Juicy J's strip club anthem, "Bands Make Her Dance." ("Bands" and "Pour It Up" both feature sleepy production by Mike Will and focus on throwing cash around around naked women.)

Ekko and Rihanna performed "Stay" at Sunday night's Grammys, where she also joined Sting, Bruno Mars and Damian and Ziggy Marley for a tribute to Bob Marley. While she was among the best-dressed stars at the event, the singer disappointed a number of fans by snuggling up to Chris Brown at the event. After the Grammys, Rihanna and Brown were spotted at a nightclub and in Brown car, an unnerving image given that this year's award show marked four years since Brown viciously assaulted her.

"Unapologetic" is Rihanna's seventh studio album. You may remember that it was heralded by the Rihanna Plane, a seven-day, seven-country tour that featured Rihanna and 150 increasingly cranky journalists on one chartered plane.

8-Year-Old Boy Killed By Space Heater Fire During Storm
Authorities say a fire sparked by a space heater in a Brooklyn apartment on a freezing, snowy morning has killed an 8-year-old boy.

The Fire Department says a firefighter and another person were taken to hospitals with minor injuries after the blaze early Saturday. It was in a building in the city's Flatbush neighborhood.

Henry Barnes lives across the street. He tells The New York Times he was awakened by screams, went outside and saw two women standing in the street.

He says one was yelling: "Get my kids, get my kids."

The boy died at the scene of the fire. His name hasn't been released.

Firefighters determined the space heater was too close to some combustible items. It's not immediately clear what they were.

Apparently Katy Perry didn't get the Grammys wardrobe memo. Perry is yet another star who pushed the limits of the wardrobe mandate at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, with a tight mint green, cleavage-baring gown that blatantly violated the memo CBS sent out to Grammy attendees. The mandate emailed earlier this week by CBS' standards and practices department demanded stars "please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered," and Perry certainly disregarded that request Sunday night.

Katy Perry at the Grammys (Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)Even E!'s Ryan Seacrest seemed noticeably flustered while interviewing Perry on the red carpet -- aside from being extremely tight, the dress exposed a large amount of cleavage. When he asked Perry about her look, Perry discussed her inspiration.

"I was inspired by Priscilla Presley in the '70s," the pop star explained. Without addressing her scandalous dress, she chose instead to focus on her flowing hairstyle. "The big hair, closer to God," she said.

Katy Perry and John Mayer get cozy at the Grammys. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Seacrest's co-host Giuliana Rancic later asked how he kept focused during the interview. Seacrest had a quick response: "When you are my height you have a lot of experience staying focused at that eye line. Lots of practice."

On Saturday night Perry did a much better job adhering to those guidelines at the Grammys MusiCare Person Of the Year Gala, which honored Bruce Springsteen. The singer wore an orange Alexander McQueen gown for the ceremony, and received rave reviews for her fashion choice.

Perry is a nominee and presenter at the 55th annual Grammy Awards Sunday night. Earlier this week it was reported that Perry would not be taking beau John Mayer to the ceremony, but instead would be attending with friend and "Girls" actress Allison Williams.

A nine-year-old Mexican girl has given birth to a baby of her own, local authorities and family members said.

"The girl was just over eight when she got pregnant. The father is a boy who is 17, but we have not found him, since he ran away," the mother of the girl, identified only as Dafne, told local officials in Jalisco state.

"We are looking for the young man to get his story because she does not understand what has happened. This is a rape or child sex abuse case," said Jorge Villasenor with the state prosectors' office.

The baby girl was born on January 27 in Zoquipan Hospital, weighing 2.7 kg.

Both girls were released from the hospital over the weekend, apparently doing well but the hospital said it would have to do extensive followup due to the new mother's age.
[Source]

 Syrian rebels have taken control of the country's biggest hydro-electric dam on the Euphrates River, activists said, dealing a strategic blow to President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other Syrian activists said Islamist fighters seized the entrances to the dam, although gunmen had not entered the main operations room and the dam had continued to function.

They had earlier swept through the nearby town of Tabqa, renamed al-Thawra (Revolution) by the country's rulers. A statue of Assad's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, was set on fire in the town, video footage showed.

Other video posted on the Internet showed what activists said was an abandoned Air Force Security base next to the dam and army installations inside the town.

"The dam was protected by an artillery battery and many intelligence units. The rebels moved on them in a lightning offensive yesterday, overrunning their positions and capturing scores of personnel," said Abu Ziad Teif, an opposition activist in contact with rebels in the area.

He said it was not clear whether the rebels would be able to keep the dam in operation and whether enough employees were left at the site. Extra power cuts were reported in the war ravaged city of Aleppo, which is partly supplied by the dam.

Rami Abdulrahman of British-based Syrian Observatory described the swift collapse of Assad's forces in Tabqa and around the dam as one of the president's biggest strategic setbacks in the 22-month-old Syrian uprising.

 Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfill the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step.

The 85-year-old pope said he had noticed that his strength had deteriorated over recent months "to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me".

"For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter," he said according to a statement from the Vatican.

A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would step down from 1900 GMT on February 28, leaving the office vacant until a successor is chosen.

Taylor Swift was the opening act for the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night.

The 23-year-old pop superstar sang her nominated song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" at the Grammys. Swift teased her Grammys performance in the days leading up to the big event. She rocked a bedazzled white top hat and tails. Her over-the-top performance included men on stilts, ballerinas, and dancers dressed as rabbits. She ended the song with the line "So he calls me and goes, 'I still love you...' And I'm like, 'I'm sorry, I'm busy opening the Grammys.'"

"I think you should perform the song that's nominated," she told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show. Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," the lead single off her 2012 album "Red," was nominated in the Record of the Year category. ("Red" itself wasn't eligible for Grammys nominations, so expect to see Swift dominate the 56th annual Grammy Awards in 2014.)

Prior to performing on the Grammy awards, Swift was a little nervous.

"Oh my god, it's Grammy week, it's so hectic," she said to Seacrest. "I have a lot to plan for with the opening performance and I'm just really hoping all the pieces come together this week. Because this is when it really gets really crazy, but it's all very exciting too."