Philips Color Kinetics has been awarded for “Significant Achievement in Solid-State Lighting Research & Development” by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which is recognition of its exceptional progress in the development of the highly efficient LED PAR lamp.  

The newest 12-volt LED headlamp product was introduced by Truck-Lite at the Mid-America Trucking Show which was declared to be the world’s first 7-in. round DOT-compliant LED headlamp for commercial applications.

Philips Lumileds has joined the California Lighting Technology Center(CLTC) as an affiliate member to co-develop market-ready Luxeon LED-based applications with luminaire manufacturers. These applications need to meet the energy efficiency and lighting quality levels of EnergyStar(r) and other regional and national guidelines.

Torraca, a small village of 1,200 inhabitants in Italy, is the first place in the world to be totally illuminated by LEDs with some 700 streetlights (each containing 54 LEDs) now lining its arteries. And this new source of light has begun to light up the night all around the world from Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium to the Raleigh Convention Center's Shimmer Wall in North Carolina.

Green energy technology was named the top development priority by Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday, with Solar and LED technologies highlighted as two areas where the island has potential to lead. Green energy technologies have become a popular target. Governments of U.S., Germany and Japan all have listed clean environment technologies as key development fields and have invested to promote the energy saving devices including solar panels.

Castrade Co. Ltd. in Japanese will release its ultra compact LED projector "CV-MP02” on March 19, 2009. The two major differences between CV-MP02 and the ultra compact projectors on the market are its low price and that it’s intended for automobile use. As an automotive device distributor, Castrade has planned to take advantage of its expertise in automotive audio-visual equipment and monitors to market the CV-MP02. Dedicated accessories will also be released to promote its use in vehicles.

Avago Technologies(San Jose, California USA), a leading supplier of analog interface components, has just announced its first 3-Watt (3W) Moonstone™ tricolor red, green and blue (RGB) LEDs. This new product can be used widely in solid-state architectural and commercial lighting applications.

Prototypes of a new type of white light LEDs will be brought out in about four months by Cyberlux, a specialized provider of light emitting diodes (LEDs). The product cost of this new type will be cut substantially than conventional LEDs and more light will be emitted.

The following is a Tunto LED desk lamp, which is designed by Tunto owner and founder Mikko Kärkkäinen and is also the winner of Red Dot Design Award 2009. This stylish LED desk lamp is made of warped oak or walnut and activated solely by touch, so it is free of any switches. So, all it needs is a gentle touch! The innovative LED lamp is truly a masterpiece combining digital technology and wood into a seamless design. The wooden lamp sells for $640.

It’s reported that Vienna, the capital of Austria installed LED streetlights from LEDworx. LEDworx®, 2 LED-Streetlights Hawk Eye [3.0] were installed at Kühnplatz in 1040 Vienna. The spirit of innovation and the commitment to energy efficiency and LED-Technology of all parties concerned enabled this first test installation. Further installations will follow in 2009.

It’s reported that Molex Incorporated has added fully-automated LED bonding capabilities in China. Molex also bonded its 500,000,000th LED on a membrane switch using the latest high-speed SMT processes and bonding technology. Molex has been applying LEDs to flex circuits for over 20 years through two innovative methods to bond and encapsulate the components for robust electrical and mechanical reliability, providing customers with a low-cost interactive user interface.

GE Lighting won the Lighting Design Awards for its Vio high power white LEDs in the Light Sources and Controls category, sponsored by Ex-Or. GE Lighting’s Vio high power white LEDs won the award for what judges described as a "major advance in color stability".

Aqualite Co. Ltd., a company based in Wuhan, China, has purchased three Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) CRIUS MOCVD systems from AIXTRON AG, worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry. It’s disclosed that the three CCS CRIUS systems were delivered in the 31x2 inch wafer configuration in the third and fourth quarter of 2008. Aqualite intends to utilize these reactors for the development and production of blue, green and white LED chips.

With amazingly high contrast ratios and a thickness measuring in the millimeters, OLED TVs certainly look like the future of home theater. However, price is a major hurdle for the technology to overcome. While new technology always comes with a heavy price tag, some are expecting the price of OLED lighting to come down some time in 2011. The recent report predicts that active OLED lighting will become the mainstream in 2011, and its revenue will surpass that of passive LED lighting sometime around 2018.

California Micro Devices (CMD) has unveiled LuxGuard family of protection devices for ultra high brightness (UHB) LED lighting applications. The LuxGuard family of protection solutions includes both LED submounts that deliver robust ESD protection and enhanced thermal management capabilities and side mounts which offer superior ESD protection for customers that utilize ceramic submounts.

Kinetic Lighting is reportedly to be one of the first lighting companies to offer the new ColorReach (TM) Powercore for rent in Southern California. The LED flood fixture, one of Philips Color Kinetics’ newest and most powerful LED fixtures, outputs more than 5,000 lumens, projects light up to 500 feet and only consumes 290 watts at full intensity. The company says it is an incredibly bright floodlight suited for both indoor and outdoor use.

It’s reported that Cooper Industries has acquired Illumination Management Solutions, Inc. (IMS) of Irvine, California that specializes in optics and system design for LED fixtures. Cooper did not reveal the purchase price or other details. Optics are critical to improving the energy efficiency of LED fixtures and creating lighting patterns that improve safety and customer comfort, according to Ron Holder, IMS president.

Recently, LED giant Cree, Inc. has launched the Product Characterization Tool (PCT), an interactive LED design tool that simplifies the task of translating nominal LED performance to real-world conditions. The online tool, accessible via cree’s website, Cree notes PCT allows users to easily characterize any XLamp® LED over a wide range of operating conditions, including drive current, flux bin, price and junction temperature. It also calculates metrics such as lumen output, lumens per watt, lumens per dollar and more.

Bright Green Technology introduces an LED backlight system - Bright Green Matrix™. The company says it is designed to illuminate large format signs and billboards in retail, commercial and advertising environments and it is equally suited to retrofitting into existing boxes or incorporating into new designs.

Thanks to the success of its LED landscape products, Kichler has added 26 new products including 12 LED path and spread lights, four well lights, three accent lights and new long LED cowls to its popular Design Pro LED landscape offerings. Kichler now offers homeowners a complete line of energy-saving LED products that all offer a bright, white, even flow of light.

The researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York of the US announced the development of a new type of blue LED in collaboration with Samsung Electro-Mechanics. The researches said the blue LED that improves light output by 18%, and the amount of electricity the LED converts into light by 22%.

It’s reported that The Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium has added new LED bulbs from Marktech LED Lighting of Lathem, New York in the Museum's Broughton Gallery. In order to improve its energy consumption and to enhance the appearance of exhibits in the gallery the Museum has installed fifty new 12W LED Bulbs. The new solid-state PAR30 LED Bulbs were used to replace outdated incandescent track lighting that had been previously used to light the section of the Museum.

Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a safety alert for operators (SAFO) called “Night Vision Goggle (NVG) Advisory Pertaining to Certain Red Color LEDs.” This SAFO advises operators using NVGs that certain LED lighting systems fall outside the combined visible and near-infrared spectrum of NVGs, and thus will not be visible to them.

The OLED lighting market will reach $6 billion by 2018, according to a recent report. The report notes that the OLED market will start to pick up in 2011, with Philips, GE, Konica Minolta, Lumiotec, and OSRAM entering mass production.

ANC Sports Enterprises released new versions of two of the company's state-of-the-art software applications, the Data Interface Solution (DIS) and VisionSOFT 3D interface. The Wachovia Center, home to the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers is the first venue to feature DIS 3.0 and VisionSOFT 6.5. The newest features of ANC’s revolutionary platforms include animated statistical imagery, automated font resizing, and an immediate, seamless transition to a backup server function.

LED lamps were compared to other technologies in a recent issue of National Geographic magazine, and LED lighting was also discussed in the House of Commons, the UK’s legislative chamber, on March 5 as part of a debate on energy and climate change. Joan Ruddock, Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, was asked if there had been discussions between her department and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the effect on electricity consumption and CO2 emissions of the installation and use of LED lighting.

AIXTRON AG of Aachen, Germany, worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced financial results for fiscal year 2008, ended December 31, 2008. Key Financials

Recently, Advanced LEDs Ltd of UK announced that it has completed two LED projects in Dubai. The projects include the Dubai Mall, with more than 1,200 stores, and the 360m-high Burj Dubai Lake Tower Hotel next door.

It’s reported that Samsung Group's LED business unit will begin operation in June with an initial target production of 120,000 LED panels. However, Samsung indicated that this production target is not big enough to challenge leading foreign makers in terms of market share. They expect the production capacity will be tripled by 2010.

Spring is slowly emerging and people are dreaming of outdoor barbecues and parties on the deck. The following solar lights from Ikea look pretty darn nice, they're exactly what you need to brighten your outdoor spaces this summer.