Once upon a time, office space was a combination of cubicles and file cabinets, computer terminals and conference areas. But changes in technology have contributed to a transformation of the look and feel of the workplace. Current research and emerging practices suggest that attention to office lighting design can go a long way in making the office work better, feel more comfortable and invite greater collaboration. 

Peter Goncalves, 3D graphic artist and independent inventor, announces the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for his Stem Light, a modern and industrial-chic new lighting concept with innovative technology integrated into the design.

MaxLite achieves placement of its seven-watt LED GU24 Omnidirectional A19 Lamp on the ENERGY STAR® Certified Subcomponent Database (CSD). This achievement helps other lighting fixture manufacturers reduce the costs and time needed to obtain ENERGY STAR certification.

Leading Taiwanese LED company Lextar will be unable to avoid impact from 4Q13 low season, according to Credit Suisse reports. However, the company is expected to benefit from the rebounding LED industry in 2014. Lextar lighting revenue is expected to soar 40 percent as new clients join in and investments from old clients. With rising number of Chinese clients, the backlight market performance is expected to be better than average market performance.

Kingsun announced that they have signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Guangdong Qingyuan High-Tech Industrial Development Zone management committee on November 11th.

Taiwan LED package company Everlight consolidated revenue for October reached NT $2.24 billion (US $ 76 million), a drop of 7.22 percent from September but an increase of 31.26 compared to October last year. Due to 2Q merger and acquisition of German light fixture manufacturer WOFI, September amount recognized reached a peak causing October to drop slightly leading to a slide in revenue from September to October.

Reasons behind Apple’s heavy investments in GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) sapphire substrates go beyond iPhone component demands, according to a TechCrunch report. Aside from home buttons and camera lens cover demands, the sapphire substrate’s crystalline properties is also a reason as to why Apple is extending its interest in this area.

Intelligent LED street lights that are capable of eavesdropping pedestrian conversation from U.S. based company Intellistreets have been installed in Las Vegas City Hall, according to a Daily Mail report. The new lights are largely funded with government aid and come with video and audio recording capacities. This has raised concerns from local residents that the “surveillance lights” could invade personal space and privacy.

Bay Area startup LumiLife is developing an aesthetically driven, technologically advanced lighting system that taps the vast potential of smart devices to deliver creative, personalized lighting experiences that bring colorful inspiration to people’s lives.

Hubbell Lighting announced  three new high performance Prescolite LED solutions for downlighting applications—a high output architectural D2LED Series fixture using Xicato's new LED module, an AC line voltage LiteBox LED downlight module (LB6LEDA8L) and a commercial grade wall wash LiteFrame LED fixture (LC6LED).

Global chip manufacturer TSMC has been attending international conventions this year to increase exposure for newly developed package free phosphor-on-die (PoD) technology. Optimistic about the economic performance for TSMC Solar and TSMC Solid State Lighting, the company plans to list the two businesses on the stock market in the next few years, said Morris Chang chairman of TSMC.

Taiwanese package manufacturer Unity Opto on November 8th released their 3Q financial data. Affected by 3Q weak backlight demands, 3Q consolidated revenue reached NT $1.73 billion (US $58 million), sliding 13.73 percent from 2Q. 3Q profit dropped 65 percent from 2Q NT $108 million to NT $37.5 million in 3Q.

A recent report by Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times noted a new phenomenon of Chinese companies headhunting  talent in Taiwan's LED industry. Three years ago, Chinese LED manufacturer San’an Optoelectronics uprooted a large number of engineers from leading Taiwanese LED company Epistar. The event was coined as the “108 Heros Incident” by Chinese media. Now, Chinese companies headhunting activities have escalated in scale and scope.Headhunting activities are also implementing Central Committee of the Communist Party’s “Ten Thousand People Plan” (literal translation) to obtain oversea ethnic-Chinese talent.

LIGHTING JAPAN 2014, an important exhibition and conference for LED/OLED lighting, will take place in 2 months. Newly joined by global giants such as Philips, GE and many others, LIGHTING JAPAN is further strengthened as the Asian hub of the lighting industry. Attend LIGHTING JAPAN 2014, meet all the key players from the world’s LED/OLED lighting industry and make the good start of next year.

Yankon announced the company has finally received cleared funds for the 2012 high-power lighting product promotion subsidy from the government.

DOE has published a new report, Dimming LEDs with Phase-Cut Dimmers: The Specifier's Process for Maximizing Success. The report was created in response to issues raised about dimming by energy efficiency organizations and specifiers, and is based on experience from CALiPER testing and GATEWAY demonstrations.

An earlier report by Women Citizen projecting Apple’s smartphone dominance is to be challenged by Samsung’s AMOLED technology has been proven wrong by a recent Bloomberg report. Apple has no intention of being left behind by Samsung in the race of developing curved smartphones, according to the Bloomberg report. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the new project, the report noted Apple is developing a new generation of smartphones with curved glass and enhanced sensors.

Microvehicles and other devices that can change shape or move with no power source other than a beam of light may be possible through research led by the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. The researchers are investigating polymers that “snap” when triggered by light, thereby converting light energy into mechanical work and potentially eliminating the need for traditional machine components such as switches and power sources. 

Researchers from the universities of Bonn and Regensburg have developed a novel type of organic light-emitting diode (OLED). These lights are suitable for the design of particularly energy-efficient cheap displays, which find applications in smart phones, tablet PCs or TVs. Applications in lighting such as in luminescent tiles are also conceivable. The scientists have now reported their findings in the journal “Angewandte Chemie” (DOI: 10.1002/anie.201307601).

Pop star Little Boots dons an LED dress designed by The Creators Project in her upcoming show in London.

Sensity Systems has announced the availability of its comprehensive NetSense-enabled LED luminaire portfolio, the first LED lighting products designed from the ground up for LSNs. Each luminaire supports a broad set of cloud applications with Sensity’s NetSense platform.

Larson Electronics has announced the release of a powerful new LED spotlight designed to mount to the rails, cages and roll tubes commonly found on marine vessels and all terrain hunting vehicles. The BCML-LED-21S Bar Clamp Mount Spotlight features high output and efficiency, bar clamp mounting with manual operating post handle, and produces an intense light beam capable of reaching 600 feet in length.

This week U.S. Department of Energy released two new reports that manufacturers might want to check out over the weekend. The first is pricing and efficacy trend analysis for utility program planning, and the second is a subjective evaluation of LED PAR38 lamps. As Apple signs a long term agreement with GTAT for sapphire substrate production, Chinese manufacturers are also eager to grab a share. Also this week, Beijing court rulings give Nichia an upper hand in its patent wars with Everlight. For further details please see below:

Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Everlight announced the launch of a brand new RGB LED package product. The full color 1-035 SMB package product is the world's smallest at only 0.5mm x 0.5mm (0505) in size and can be applied in high resolution LED TVs.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar saw earnings turn to losses in 3Q13, due to loss on valuation of financial liability. Although, the company’s gross profit rebound rate was much lower than expected in 2013, higher gross profits from Embedded LED chip (ELC) and AlInGap products will help gross profits return to 17.8 percent levels, CLSA forecasted.

LiteOn global consolidated revenue for October reached NT $19.45 billion (US $66 million), a growth of 9 percent compared with last October. The company’s core businesses including power solutions and camera modules both reached record highs in October. Accumulated global revenue from Jan. – Oct. reached NT $173 billion

Everlight responds to Nichia's press release on November 7th regarding Chinese Patent Nos. ZL97196762.8 and ZL03159595.2 (YAG patents).

DOE has published the first in a series of four special investigations intended to extend the findings of CALiPER Application Summary Report 20: LED PAR38 Lamps, which was published late last year. The new report, CALiPER Report 20.1: Subjective Evaluation of Beam Quality, Shadow Quality, and Color Quality for LED PAR38 Lamps, focuses on a subset of the lamps from Report 20, which were separately assessed by members of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.

A small study research has revealed patients in average hospital rooms are getting inadequate lighting exposure that it is affecting their bodies normal sleep-wake cycle, according to a Reuters report. 

Universal Display Corp., enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with its UniversalPHOLED® technology and materials, reported its financial results today for the quarter and nine-month period, ended September 30, 2013.