Sharp Corp. has developed a LED device for backlight in LCD panels and expanded color gamut by 25% without lowering the screen’s brightness, according to a Tech-On article. Using the LED device, the LCD panels can now reach 90% color gamut on NTSC (CIE1931) standards without making any changes to liquid crystal cells.

Intematix Corp., a leading manufacturer of phosphor solutions for LED lighting, today announced that U.S. patent No. 8,597,545 was issued on December 3, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This patent covers novel formulations for red emitting, nitride based phosphors and include products in the company’s XR phosphor product family. This award extends Intematix’s innovation leadership in phosphors that improve the performance of LED lighting.

German car manufacturer BMW gives an in depth video introduction on its latest LED laser lights in its concept car BMW i8. The car maker claims the new laser LED headlights high beam lights are capable of emitting lights at longer range of 600 meters compared to normal LED high beam’s 300 meters. The new technology is yet to proliferate, according to a article by CarScoop.

For its 100th birthday, Entergy Corporation and Entergy Arkansas, together donated $2M to illuminate three bridges in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a new LED lighting solution from Philips Color Kinetics.

Osram Opto Semiconductors is now launching two new high-power versions of the Osram Ostar Projection for projectors with a brightness of up to 1700 lumen. Thanks to their optimized product design they offer very high luminous flux from the available chip surface. Between 1000 and 8300 lumen can be produced depending on the color and the LED version. An antireflex coated glass cover instead of the usual lens, together with external optics, ensures that the light is very well bundled. The new LEDs are therefore ideally matched to the efficient lighting from various additional optics.

Journée Lighting, designer and manufacturer of LED lighting fixtures announces that it has received its 46th issued patent; Journée’s intellectual property portfolio continues to rapidly expand with the introduction of their patented Snap-Lock™ LED Driver Cartridge and Field-Replaceable Linear LED Modules.

LED manufacturers are becoming increasingly lost in a flourishing market, with each searching for the road to transformation, according to an article by Guangming Daily. Lighting industry leader, NVC Lighting Chairman Wu Changjiang shares some of his insights on LED industry trends and future developments.

LED manufacturers are aiming to take advantage of business opportunities arising in the display market due to improvements in RGB LED package technology, increased image resolution, and growing demand driven by the upcoming international sports events. Taiwan LED package manufacturer Harvatek that launched their RGB LED product in 2013 is upgrading package specs from 2020 to 0606. The company’s current monthly production capacity for RGB LEDs is 50KK and projected to expand to 100KK in 2014.

Recent automotive orders have bolstered revenue for LED manufacturer Epistar, reported Economic Daily News on the 16th. Mid power LEDs are anticipated to drive up company revenue to 40 percent in 2014.

Philips has released a new dimmable LED with a radically different shape compared to other LEDs and incandescent bulbs. The new SlimStyle 60-watt equiv. LED, available for retail in one month, has dropped the cumbersome heat sink and flattened out with a flat circle design.

The District of Columbia has selected Citelum to manage and upgrade the city's 71,000 street lights to a state-of-the-art, sustainable system. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced today that it has awarded Washington's streetlight asset management contract to the company, which already manages urban lighting for some of the world's most recognizable cities.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. announced that its Seesmart brand has been selected by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command to supply Lewis and Clark class T-AKE dry cargo/ammunition ships with 17,000 Seesmart two and four foot LED tube lamps. QuaLED Lighting, a woman-owned small business based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is the Revolution Lighting distributor on the project.

For travelers visiting Japan this Christmas, a couple of design websites have compiled some must see lighting decoration sites. According to a Philips Lighting blog entry,while Japanese do not celebrate Christmas they are quite keen on creating a festive atmosphere with lights. Design website Spoon and Tamago gives a comprehensive guide to some must see locations in Japan: Sapporo, Hokkaido On top of the design website list is northern city Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture in Japan. Sapporo was the first Japanese city to introduce illumination in 19...

AwoX, a company based in Montpellier, France is expanding its collection of connected solutions to the U.S. with the StriimLight B-10. This LED light bulb features an integrated Bluetooth speaker that makes it easy to play digital music throughout your home for a simple “smart home” upgrade. The AwoX StriimLight offers an affordable solution to achieve your wireless audio goals. AwoX StriimLight and the full AwoX Striim collection will be on display at LVCC, South Hall 3 – 31658 at the 2014 Consumer Electronic Show, Jan. 7-10.

PhotonStar LED Ltd formally announced a collaboration with controls specialists Lutron at Lux Live 2013 in order to enable "seamless compatibility‟ between products. The London lighting event took place on Nov. 20-21, 2013 at Earls Court 2, London, UK.

Another Taiwanese LED manufacturer aside from Everlight has joined in patent wars against Nichia, this time Harvatek Corporation (Harvatek), according to a report by Taiwan’s Science and Technology Policy Research and Information Center (STPI). The company has reignited patent wars against Nichia on Nov. 5, 2013. Harvatek filed a complaint against Nichia and its U.S. subsidiary Nichia American Corp. (Nichia) that their LED products had infringed its patents at the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division. 

Philips showed off their new smart bulbs Hue at this year’s 25th Taipei International Building, Construction, and Decoration Exhibition. The company  showcased the future trend of LED smart lighting, according to the Economic Daily News on December 13th. The new wireless color tunable LED ceiling lamp can be remotely controlled for mood lighting, with plans of being launched in the beginning of 2014. The already released Dynalite series uses wireless smart lighting concepts to illustrate the company’s innovative thinking as well as the future possibilities for LED lighting

San’an announced on December 13th after market hours that the company’s subsidiary Fuzhou San’an received RMB 13.60 million (US $2.34 million) sapphire substrate subsidy under “three technology projects” from Anxi County Ministry of Finance

The new Hengqing district in Zhuhai City is considered a prime real estate location, but why is property here being sold at base prices? Bidders for the property are required to be parent companies of enterprises, and auction conditions are very stringent, analyzed He Bing, General Manager of Zhuhai Real Estate Company. The property here is suitable for office buildings, he said. "Great Aim Group plans to invest and develop LED visual light communication (VLC) technology in this area, so it’s easy to understand why they are capable of acquiring land at low prices."

Hon Hai Industry Co. (also known as Foxconn Technology Group) new demonstration plant in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China has begun production on Dec. 15, 2013, according to a report by Chinanews.com. The new plant which took four months to construct will be establishing production lines for TV, LED streetlamps and electronic whiteboards.

Landmarks around the world were bathed in the South African colors last week to mourn the passing of Nelson Mandela. Countries lit up major buildings to pay tribute to this inspirational figure.

Samsunng Display has integrated the company’s OLED dicision and LCD division according to an announcement on December 11th.

Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (also known as Foxconn Technology Group) will begin developing a kind of high-precision OLED panels designed for current smartphones and tablets with narrow frames and mass produce the new panels in 2015, a OFWeek report quoted sources saying. The report noted Innolux Display Group, the world’s third biggest panel plant is a subsidiary of Hon Hai. Hon Hai’s entry into the OLED panel market is expected to intensify competition.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has launched a new collaborative initiative—the Light and Health Alliance—to bridge the science of light and health to practical applications, and to provide objective information based on basic and applied research. The Alliance is led by Dr. Mariana Figueiro, LRC Light and Health Program director and associate professor at Rensselaer.

Aqua-Quip manufactures a range of underwater LED lights to suit both concrete and fibreglass pools in flush-mounted and surface-mounted applications. The lights are simple to install and are suitable for new pool construction or for upgrading from existing lights.

The innovative lamp series “Orbit” from Philips Co. has recently won the Bronze Award of Design for Asia Award (DFA) 2013. Designed with the oriental idea of the sky being circular, the endless round shape of the Orbit Series was created through use of new LED technology. When installed, the lamps look like luminous rings which provide pure lighting impressions by soft, bright light and dimmable luminance.

This week the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces injecting US$ 10 million in energy-saving lighting technologies. In the Chinese market, will sapphire substrate stock prices continue its upward climb? Guoqing Tang, China President of LED BU, Samsung also projects future industry developments in 2014, while analyzing the “Three Worlds” phenomemnon in the LED industry. For more info please see below:

How long can LED lasts? As product prices are reduced, are LEDs lifespan also becoming much shorter? Some in the LED industry have boldly stated: “A person only needs a single LED lamp through their entire life. But in this fast paced consumerism era, do we really need such long lasting products? This is an issue the LED industry has repeatedly encountered during its development, so should we not reconsider LEDs market positioning? Is one LED lamp per person that can last through a person’s entire life span suitable for a consumer product like LED?”

Nationstar announced the company’s acquirement of two LED manufacturing patents as well as two district government subsidies for subsidiary Foshan Nationstar Optoelectronics totaling RMB 10.24 million (US $1.7 million) in a report on Dec, 12, 2013. 

Ledlink has received orders from U.S. luminary manufacturer Acuity Brands and German luminary manufacturer Zumtobel are estimated to lead to a growth of 30 percent next year, according to the company’s financial report released on the 12th.