It's reported that Taiwan industry watchers estimated the on-going Beijing Olympic Games to give a big boost to the LED lighting industry from the huge number of LED lamps in conjunction with the energy-conservation tone lighting up magnificent games monuments, public utilities, main roads, and traffic lights in the Chinese capital city.

It’s reported that Showa Denko of Japan, a maker of hard disks and red LEDs, halted plans to expand production of the LEDs and hard disks.According to a Nikkei Net article, in December of 2007, Showa Denko announced plans to double its red aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) LED production to 200 million units per at its operations in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture by the end of 2008, and the company was planning to spend about 1.2 billion yen to raise the red LED production capacity.

Recently, in Amherst a local manufacturing firm announced that the company is continuing to do what is possible to make our planet a greener place to live.Chuck Cartmill from C-Vision, who is in the process of developing an LED technology to put into streetlighting said the majority of lighting pollution and wasted energy is from the overheads you see out on the streets, their fixture design is set up to use substantially less energy, but also comply with what is called Dark Skies, so all the light is directed down.

Recently, at Rubicon Technology’s 2Q08 earnings conference call with industry analysts, the company's president and CEO discussed the future of the LED market. 

After a long wait, the Bejing 2008 Olympic Games, and also called the “Green Olympic, High-tech Olympic, and People’s Olympic” established by the Chinese government, has spectacularly opened today. However, one of our major concerns is the “LED Green Illumination” products which will not only be widely used in this game, but also will contribute to the global expectation in relation to the future of energy-saving luminary.

At the festivities, in keeping with China's push for futuristic technologies, tiny chips made in Durham will light up the Beijing Olympics. When the games open tonight, an estimated 4 billion people worldwide will watch dazzling, computerized light shows centered partly around the iconic Bird's Nest and Water Cube buildings, those buildings' lights were built using more than 750,000 red, blue and green LED chips made at Cree's factory in Durham.In addition, Cree LEDs will illuminate massive video boards in Beijing and TV kiosks throughout the Olympics complex.

It’s reported that PhotonStar LED Ltd, a UK-based designer and manufacturer of solid state lighting (SSL) luminaires, has increased the efficiency of its next-generation CeilingStar5 downlighter to 70 luminaire lumens per circuit watt, and has set new standards in the efficiency of commercial downlighters by achieving more than 56 lumens per circuit watt for the next generation of its CeilingStar5 SuperBright when driven at 700mA.

It’s reported that Sharp is introducing 6 new downlights and 5 new oblong/square energy-efficient LED fixtures for factories, offices, and commercial spaces to the Japanese market.  

Recently, component distributors are retooling their operations to help rewire buildings to take advantage of its energy-saving capabilities because of advances in LED technology push it into the commercial realm, Electronic component distributor Avnet Inc. has committed new resources to the emerging "illumination market" with the creation of an engineering team that helps businesses rewire their offices and operations for LED lighting.

It’s reported that Harvatek Inc., a Taiwan supplier of SMT chip LEDs, scored net profits of NT$0.9 per share for the first half of this year to be the No.2 supplier of this kind on the island, with increasing sales of its LED applications for notebook PCs.

Recently, Cree Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, announces a new standard for lighting-class LEDs with the introduction of the XLamp(r) XP-E and XP-C LEDs. The XLamp XP-E and XP-C LEDs are available to order with standard lead times.

Edison Opto, a Taiwan based high power LED packaging manufacture, has introduced its popular product, 20Watt EdiPower. The device is measured at 14.5mm x 14.5mm x 0.7mm, with luminous flux of 1,000 lumens for cool white LED (CCT:5,000~10,000K), and 780 lumens for neutral white LED (CCT:3,800~5,000K), and 620 lumens for warm white LED (CCT:2,670~3,800K) at a drive current of 1,400mA.

Recently, China Display Technologies Inc. has formed a technical team to work in conjunction with the Guangdong Flat Panel Industry Association, a semi-governmental institution involved in drafting the standards for the high power LED lighting industry in China.

Recently, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s Cabinet, announced it would replace all the island’s incandescent-type traffic lights with LED lamps in three years, and replace all the incandescent lamps currently serving throughout the island with energy-saving lamps in four years. Taiwan government’s energy-conservation policy will give a big boost to the island’s energy-saving lamp industry, in which many manufacturers have planned to begin volume production or sheer shipment some time this quarter.

It’s reported that Sturtevant - Energy-saving lighting that could help cities in Alaska to Australia save on the cost of electricity in street lights is creating global growth opportunities for Ruud Lighting Inc.

Recently, the Cabinet in Taiwan decided to designate LED as one bellwether industries to actively develop in the near future based on a promising future for green sectors. The government is planning to encourage households to replace existing public lighting with LED lamps to save electricity.

Recently, Sharp Corp., Japan's biggest maker of liquid-crystal displays, will begin selling lights made based on light-emitting diode technology to establish a new earnings pillar on top of flat panel and solar cell businesses.Sharp follows companies including Toshiba Corp. and Citizen Holdings Co. in entering the market for LEDs, which consume less energy and last longer than incandescent and fluorescent lights, are seen as promising next-generation lights as costs for power generation and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions rise.

Recently, Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc., a renewable energy and energy conservation company, has acquired the exclusive rights to patents that allow it to expand its existing product offering into the extended-life and security LED lighting markets.

It’s reported that Toshiba has unveiled a new 1.6 million LED display in New York's Times Square supporting high definition resolution. The Toshiba Vision Times Square will take pride of place at the top of One Times Square Building, and carry its message to the crowded streets 285 feet below.

Recently, LED International Holdings Ltd. said it is buying New Shenzhen, a Chinese LED products maker, for HK$5.5 million cash and shares. That is that it will pay HK$3.0 million cash over three years and issue 16 million new shares.

It’s reported that China Display Technologies, Inc., a leading China-based optoelectronics manufacturer specializing in small-medium and large-sized LED and CCFL backlight units for LCD displays, announced it has formed a technical team to work in conjunction with the Guangdong Flat Panel Industry Association, a semi-governmental institution actively involved in drafting the standards for the High Power LED lighting industry in China.

It’s reported that Sony tried to wow visitors with its new flat screens and sound systems at a demo show in London, but star of the show was undoubtedly the 11in OLED TV.Showing just standard definition content, the 3cm thick screen gave fantastic realistic colours and a definition that many HD equipment would be envious of. It boasts a contrast ratio of (at least) 1,000,000:1.

Recently, Lamina Lighting, a seven-year-old LED lighting company, said that it is selling its assets to Lighting Science Group Corporation (LSG), which makes customized LED lighting fixtures.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will begin test production of next-generation displays for TVs next year with plans for commercial output as early as 2011. Competition is heating up among the world's electronics makers, including Japanese rival Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, in OLED, or organic light-emitting diode, displays.

Recently, Future Lighting Solutions announced the availability of the new Linear Optic 210 from Polymer Optics Limited designed specifically for linear arrays of LUXEON Rebel LEDs. A single optic is easily affixed to a linear array of LEDs already assembled on a PCB board, resulting in fast, low-cost assembly that reduces the footprint required for the LED lighting system in a luminaire.

Recently, the Sentry Equipment Corp. in Oconomowoc, Wis., was considering how to light its new factory, the company's president, Michael Farrell decided to try LEDs. At last he chose to light the building's exterior and most of its interior with LEDs, a light source that many bulb manufacturers are now convinced will supplant incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs.

According to analysts at the Darnell Group market research firm in Corona, Calif, LED will rapidly accelerate over the next few years in general illumination applications.

Recently, Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of liquid crystal displays, and Samsung SDI, a plasma display panel maker, announced they will set up a joint venture to develop an organic electroluminescent display panel.

According to counters Jeff Shepard, president of Darnell Group, the impending displacement of cold-cathode fluorescent lamps by LED backlights in the laptop computer market is only one of the most visible indicators, and analyzed over 50 application sub-segments in detail to arrive at our growth trajectories. Growth in these applications will drive down the cost of LEDs is quite faster. And growth is accelerating in numerous market segments including video signs and billboards, automotive lighting, and others.

It's reported Seoul Semiconductor has recommended a new Top-View LEDs with high CRI, high efficacy and high reliability. Generally, the Warm White part (CAWT722-S) has a CRI of 96 and achieves 68 lm/W, while the Pure White (CWT722-S) has a CRI of 92 and produces 70 lm/W. moreover, it is important to note that these figures are for a drive current of 60 mA and a power consumption of 0.192 W. The light output of the pure white and warm white devices is only 13.9 and 13.1. lm, respectively.