Released today, the seventh annual Socket Survey from North American lighting leader OSRAM SYLVANIA found 65 percent of Americans surveyed have purchased LEDs for use in their homes and the majority (64 percent) of those who did, purchased LED bulbs for use in sockets for general illumination. Of the respondents who were identified as LED bulb users, the most valued benefits of making the switch were reduced energy consumption (96%), longer bulb lifespan (93%) and cost savings (93%).

Shanghai Yaming Lighting Co, a trusted brand and pioneer in lighting technology development based in China, today marked the official opening of its regional headquarters at Dubai Silicon Oasis, the integrated free zone technology park.

Litecool (//www.litecool.co.uk), has opened a new clean room facility to research, develop, prototype and test new LED packaging technologies. The laboratory includes all the equipment needed to mount bare LEDs into packages, COBs and arrays. This will speed up time to market for new packaging technologies from Litecool.

Elec-tech International (ETI) recently announced it would be issuing 378 million shares through a private placement to raise RMB 4.5 billion (US $720 million) for flip chip LED and package related investments, according to a report from National Business Daily (NBD).

Lumileds CEO Pierre-Yves Lesaicherre and other high ranking company officers spoke to LEDinside recently about the company’s mid power LED strategy following the Go Scale Capital investment in the company at Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) 2015, which took place in Guangzhou, China from June 9-12, 2015.

Halifax regional council has awarded a CA $37 million (US $30 million) contract to bidder G.J. Cahill and Co. to design, supply and install LED streetlights throughout the Canadian muncipality, reported Herald News recently.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published LE 6-2014 Procedure for Determining Target Efficacy Ratings for Commercial, Industrial, and Residential Luminaires. It was updated to explicitly include LED (light-emitting diode) technology and is of particular interest to recessed luminaire manufacturers, fluorescent lamp manufacturers, and HID (high intensity discharge) manufacturers.

Illumitex, announced the addition of Paul Hardej and Mathieu van de Sande to its team of horticulture lighting experts.

In an exclusive interview with LEDinside, Osram Opto speaks about its outlook for LEDs in the wearable application market. LEDinside’s latest report on IR LED market for surveillance applications reaches $ 120 million in 2015. Cree recalls some 700,000 LED T8 tube lights in U.S. and Canada. Philips Hue to be included in Apple HomeKit by September this year. A GE survey indicates the UK government is not doing enough to upgrade to more efficient electronic products.

A Cree distributor has voiced concerns over streetlight bidding requirements in Phoenix, the largest city in the State of Arizona, U.S., reported CBS 5.

A newly published study from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that improving the uniformity of lighting in parking lots can increase the sense of safety and security, as well as provide up to an additional 75% energy savings by lowering total light levels.

Global Tech LED, fast-growing south Florida-headquartered creator and manufacturer of energy-, money- and labor-saving LED new construction and retrofit outdoor, indoor commercial lighting systems, announces substantial further market and product-production expansion beginning this year.

Inspirato (www.inspirato.com), the world’s largest destination club, and global technology leader LG Electronics (www.lg.com) today launched an exclusive partnership that exemplifies the intersection of luxury travel and cutting-edge technology.

A floating LED light bulb has made possible by a Swedish designer Simon Morris by using magnetic designs.

Philips recently announced on Facebook, its smart LED bulbs Philips Hue will be adding HomeKit support, and be compatible with existing lights, according to a 9 to 5 Mac report.

Major advances in the field of organic electronics are currently revolutionising previously silicon-dominated semiconductor technology. Customised organic molecules enable the production of lightweight, mechanically flexible electronic components that are perfectly adapted to individual applications. Chemists at the Goethe University have now developed a new class of organic luminescent materials through the targeted introduction of boron atoms into the molecular structures. The compounds described in the professional journal "Angewandte Chemie" (Applied Chemistry) feature an intensive blue fluorescence and are therefore of interest for use in OLEDs.

The Alliance for Solid-State Illumination Systems and Technologies (ASSIST), a program of the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has released a publication that proposes a new method of evaluating human perception of directly observed light source flicker. The publication, ASSIST recommends…Recommended Metric for Assessing the Direct Perception of Light Source Flicker, provides specific measurement procedures and calculations to objectively determine whether the amount of flicker from a light source is above or below the threshold of human perception. The metric is applicable to any waveform shape and frequency and is based on peer-reviewed laboratory and human factors experiments.

Noesis, the tech-enabled lending marketplace for financing energy-saving commercial building improvements, today announced an energy project trend report. Based on data mined from more than 1,300 projects  on the Noesis platform that are valued at over US $500 million, lighting is the most common upgrade for commercial building owners.

HC Semitek announced it had been carrying out operations since halting trade on  China’s bourse, and has been discussing with investors and traders about its future direction. Investors and traders have requested for more detailed explanations about the terms and conditions, but the company has not confirmed the content of the discussions.

Photos of a new HTC smartphone model featuring three LED flash lights have been leaked on Chinese media Weibo recently, reported CNMO.com.

India’s Power Minister Piyush Goyal announced a massive LED upgrade program in the Northern holy city Varanasi, which is located in the State Uttar Pradesh, according to The Hindu and other media reports.

Jake Dyson’s 37 Years Long Lasting LED Task Lights Released in Japan Jake Dyson robust LED task lights, designed to last for at least 37 years, have hit store shelves in Japan, according to Gamme.com report. 

As a result of government regulations over the past several decades, an increasing number of product manufacturers have added labels alerting consumers to potential health risks. However, a new labeling initiative isn’t the result of a federal mandate but a technology leader’s decision to take action.

San’an Opto announced Tuesday it has suspended trading on China’s bourse, due to the uncertain outcome of partnership talks with China National Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Unity Opto has seen its revenue in May 2015 slide 30%, due to Dutch lighting conglomerate Philips aggressive pricing strategies.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) has sealed a NT $2.55 billion (US $80 million) loan deal with a syndicate of local banks in Taiwan to repay loans and expand the company’s operation capital.

DuPont Displays (DuPont) and leading inkjet equipment manufacturerKateeva announced today that they will join forces to develop optimized inks, equipment, and processes to further advance inkjet printing technology for Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display devices.  The companies will work closely to leverage DuPont technical leadership in solution materials for printed OLED devices with Kateeva’s exclusive YIELDjet™ inkjet printing platform.  The aim of this cooperation is to establish a proven, cohesive offering for OLED device manufacturers that enables a simpler yet highly effective process for manufacturing OLED TV displays using inkjet technology.

Embracing new technology- New research by GE Lighting and the Carbon Trust finds that most UK public bodies have begun to adopt intelligent technologies, in order to drive social, economic and environmental benefits within their estates.

Abby Wambach, the captain of the World Cup’s U.S. Women's Soccer Team, enters a dark stadium with a poorly incandescent lit soccer goal. She proceeds to decimate the ugly row of lights suspending from the top of the soccer goal by making perfectly aimed scores, and eventually switches on the newly installed LED lights with a remote control.

Malaysian LED manufacturers reportedly have raked in RM 37.1 million (US $9.86 M) at LED Expo Thailand 2015, reported MalayMail Online recently.