Checkers Industrial Safety Products announced the immediate availability of their new AID LIGHTS™ LED2250 Class I Beacons. With an ultra efficient power supply, these high intensity beacons produce more flashes per minute with less power draw, which minimizes maintenance and replacement costs. AID LIGHTS™ LED2250 Beacons quickly alert people of upcoming hazards to create a safer work environment for traffic safety, construction, mining, utilities, or in other hazardous or emergency areas.

The first downlight of GE’s Lumination™ LED Luminaires, the DI Series offers easy customization through an ideal ambient lighting solution for high-end retail, commercial office, and hospitality applications. Featuring the breakthrough design of GE Lighting’s Infusion™ technology, users can easily select their preferred lumen output and color temperature to illuminate key products or focal points with the simple switch of an LED module.

Xeleum Lighting announced the availability of its Cobalt Series high efficiency LED light fixtures. These fixtures provide more evenly distributed light and years of maintenance-free operation at less than half the energy cost of the fluorescent fixtures they are designed to replace. As with all Xeleum troffers, they meet the performance requirements the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) and are now included on the DLC Qualified Products List (QPL).

On December 5th, Philips Lighting gave a futuristic home lighting show titled “Light, Creating and Witnessing Touching Residences” at 800 Show in Shanghai, China. By working with three famous interior designers, Zhang Yi, Bill Yen and Ouyang Hui, Philips expressed how innovative lighting can change residential surroundings through multiple lighting designs. At the show, these designers shared their creation concepts with attendees through three show rooms that displayed minimal, fashionable and neoclassical styles respectively.

An ideal gift for skateboarders this Christmas might be additional LED light equipment from Third Kind. The lights come in a package with all the hardware into a kit that can be mounted in minutes, according to a Gizmag article. The package comes with a rechargeable battery pack mounts via the truck hardware, indicating skateboarders will not have to modify the board or worry about the pack from falling off. The skateboard light strips comes in a size of 51 cm (20-inches) and is stuck on the board like a sticker.

Inspired by a classic holiday poem, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” this year’s National Christmas Tree on display in front of the White House will feature GE’s new, energy smart® Sugar Plum light-emitting diode (LED) holiday lighting.

With 4Q coming to a close, this week has seen a substantial number of companies releasing their financial reports. Financial firms, such as UBS, have also released market forecasts for 2014.

A daily household object has taken on a new twist thanks to designers Idan Noyberg and Gal Bulka. They have designed a solar powered clothespin called Lightly which includes a small colored LEDs.

Finnish photographer has been creating spooky images with light for four years, ever since he accidently discovered the medium. Janne Parviainen uses only a camera and a child’s LED torch to create his uniquely creepy photographs.

Plessey announced today availability of its next generation GaN-on-Silicon mid-power LEDs. The product family doubles the efficacy of Plessey’s first generation MAGIC™ (Manufactured on GaN-on-Si I/C) products released in February 2013. Using standard silicon semiconductor production techniques, Plessey is able to achieve high flux output LED products at substantially lower cost. The PLW114050 is the first in a family of entry level LED lighting products that will be released. 

The Rainforest of Canada's pacific coast lights up for the holidays with the illuminated Capilano Suspended Bridge Park.

The First Prize Winner of city.people.light Award 2013 is Rietburg, Germany; there are some excellent cities which also did great lighting masterplans and were rewarded prizes. In the second article of the city.people.light award series, we are offering you a glance on these exceptional cities.

GE’s Immersion™ RV60 LED lighting system offers grocery and convenience store owners the next generation of energy-efficient refrigerated display lighting to help lower energy costs while enhancing the visual appeal of merchandise.

Created in 2003 by Philips and LUCI (Lighting Urban Community International), the city.people.light is an annual award that is attempting to rehumanize the urban environment through light. It also rewarding cities that are exploring ways to maximize energy efficiency, improve sustainability and livability. The 2013 Awards has been conferred to the following cities: Rietberg, Germany, Seoul, South Korea, Geneva, Switzerland, Zhengzhou, China, and Wuppertal, Germany.

Philips Lighting blogger Monique Cosineau talks to Canadian designer David Sasaki about his Light Fall design, which clinched second place at the 2013 CLU Foundation Contest. Below is the interview posted on Philips Lighting blog:

Toshiba Corporation flipped the switch on the new "Centennial Holiday Light Show" in New York City's Grand Central Terminal on November 21. The colorful animated display can be seen on the monumental windows above the Terminal's west balcony through December 26, 2013. Click here for the full press release.

With continual falls in large sized backlight LED TV prices, penetration rates for direct-view type LED TV (aka Chubby TV) is expected to grow in 2014. EMC lead frame drivers have advantages in 1-3W power range, and is expected to lead the mid to high power market. It is also the most commonly used LED chip in direct-view type LED TV. However, with improvements in PCT lead frame driver power output to 1-1.2W, manufacturers are also launching PCT products for direct-view type LED backlight TV. 

Goldee today revealed the Goldee Light Controller – a reinvention of the light switch that redefines how people interact with light. Goldee translates information from your surroundings into smart functions that respond to your lighting needs. Today starts the crowd- funding campaign during which customers can pre-order Goldee for an exclusive price of US$ 249 directly at getgoldee.com.

FZLED is pleased to release the latest collection in T8 series LED Tube: T8-05L LED Tube Lights. It uses SMD LED and offers 10, 18 and 20 watt in two feet (58 and 60cm) and four feet long (120cm). It is direct replacement for traditional T8 tubes and fits standard G13 sockets with an AC voltage range of 100-240V. 

Direct-view type LED TV aka chubby TV with its cost advantages and has been a market highlight in 2013. Chubby TV has been using secondary optic lens to continually improve its features. By increasing beam angle, the LED TV has successfully met the challenge of shortening OD to 15 mm without adding LEDs. The chubby TV not only has cost advantages, it has also shed off its thick appearance and now holds the same advantages as the thin edge-view type LED TV. The industry predicts 15 mm OD TV model will become the next major industry spec in 2014.

Sammi Gros has invented a new type of LED “Tail Lights.” They are not your usual LED tail lights for automotive applications, but six LED double sided strands clipped to horse tails. According to Kickstarter’s product introduction, Gros decided to launch safety lights for equestrian lovers after being hit by a car during a riding trip with a friend four years ago. The safety lights for horses aims to help avoid potential motor accidents for riders.

British LED lighting company PhotonStar Technology Ltd. has announced its new consumer Smart Bulb system Halcyon™, to be available to the general market early 2014 but with a small pre-production run to go to Kickstarter backers in the next few weeks.

Designed Together to Work Together™, GE’s LED lighting complemented by USG’s ceiling and wall solutions helps free commercial architects, designers and building contractors from the constraints of traditional design. From seamless ceilings to customized wall murals, GE and USG provide advanced engineering and striking aesthetics for commercial lighting.

Dialog Semiconductor plc (FWB: DLG), a provider of highly integrated power management, AC/DC, solid state lighting and short-range wireless technologies, today announced a strategic collaboration with Sengled, a global leading provider of LED lighting solutions and Dialog’s first partner for the commercialization of Dialog’s smarteXiteTM platform. Based on fully configurable logic, smarteXite integrates the latest digital dimming standard – Ledotron™ – and enables a new generation of highly flexible and intelligent LED driver ICs for smart lighting applications.

Intematix Corp., a leading innovator of patented phosphor solutions for high-quality LED lighting, today announced the volume shipments of their remote phosphor component that enables 150W equivalent LED retrofit lamps. This production release adds to the product family already enabling 40W, 60W, 75W and 100W bulb replacements all using a similar omnidirectional form factor.

Philips and Desso - global leaders in lighting and carpets respectively - today announce a partnership agreement to develop solutions that combine LED lighting with light transmissive carpet. This innovation will further unlock the potential of LED integration into surfaces and adds an exciting dimension to interior design and space planning. The solution will transform the way people interact with information and their environment in offices, hotels, conference centers and other public buildings.

Building owners and operators are becoming increasingly aware of the impact lighting can have on energy costs and the way it can contribute to savings. But the best lighting technology for each application must first be identified before maximum savings can be achieved.

Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, Inc. (KMSA), the worldwide leader in the industrial measurement of color and light, is continuing to build on its industry-leading position in light and display measurement technology by exploring new business opportunities and gaining entry into new markets with the newly acquired Instrument Systems GmbH (IS) product line. Beginning third quarter 2013, the company gained exclusive distribution rights to Instrument Systems product portfolio in North America and Canada following the acquisition by Konica Minolta Optics, Inc. (KMOP).

Ultra-modern LED projection technology: Once behind the wheel, the Opel Monza Concept whisks you away into a completely new and unique world of instruments and infotainment with a wide, sculpted multi-function panel that sweeps from door to door.

The Empire State Building towers will light purple today in honor of the third annual World Prematurity Day. Parent groups and organizations worldwide are joining together to raise awareness of the serious problem of premature birth. An estimated 15 million babies around the world are born too soon every year, including nearly half a million in the United States. Learn more about what you can do to help, and send your family and friends a “virtual hug” to show you care about premature babies at facebook.com/WorldPrematurityDay. Special thanks to the Empire State Building for supporting 2013 World Prematurity Day.