For the 10th time, the EHI Retail Institute has presented the retail technology awards europe (reta) at the EuroShop 2017 trade fair to honour the best IT solutions in retailing. Three equally-ranked award winners were selected in four categories. The Swiss company Bollag-Guggenheim AG won the award for “best-in-store solution”. By using retail analytics and beacon technology, it has generated real added value at the POS. The retailer uses the digital technologies of Osram and its software partner beaconsmind.  

Alpha Assembly Solutions, a major provider of electronic soldering and bonding materials, and the Lighting Enabled Systems and Applications Center (LESA), A National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), are pleased to announce that Gyan Dutt, Technical Marketing Manager at Alpha and Dr. Robert Karlicek, Director of LESA at RPI, have co-chaired the 2017 iNEMI Solid State Illumination Industry Roadmap.

Each year, the LIGHTFAIR® International (LFI®) Conference showcases the industry’s most relevant topics presented by industry leaders from around the world.  For 2017, the Conference program has 75 courses including 12 forum sessions.  Its two 2017 forums – IoT & Smart Lighting Forum and Light & Health Forum – reveal how lighting and technology are transforming the future of the industry.  

MaxLite expands its popular Filament Lamp Series with ENERGY STAR certified models designed to reproduce the ambience of incandescent filament bulbs at a fraction of the energy cost.

The international lighting company Zumtobel Group, a leading player in the field of innovative lighting solutions and components, is joining forces with E.Leclerc Langon, a hypermarket of the major France retail chain, to launch a pilot project to make the vision of the “Internet of Light” a reality in retail stores.

Philips Lighting and Tarkett, a global provider of innovative and sustainable flooring, announced the launch of Luminous vinyl flooring. The specially developed vinyl tiles are embedded with cutting-edge LED technology that enables retailers to advertise, interact with customers and guide them through any store or building.

NEC Display Solutions of America, a major provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announced the latest generation of its flagship V and P Series commercial grade displays.

LG Innotek announced it is participating in Euroshop 2017, the world's biggest retail trade fair, held in Dusseldorf, Germany from March 5-9.

IoT start-up Gooee is attending EuroShop, the largest retail exhibition in Europe, where delegates, visitors and exhibitors are able to experience its ‘full-stack’ IoT ecosystem as the first manufacturer previews a Gooee-powered IoT platform for lighting.

Future Vision Energy is expanding their brand and will change their name to Energy Lighting Services. Future Vision Energy was founded in 2010 as an energy efficiency consulting and project management company. Historically, Future Vision Energy only worked with existing commercial buildings to retrofit their existing lighting systems to LEDs for the purpose of saving energy and saving money. 

As LED market penetration rate continues to increase, global LED market growth has slowed down in recent years. In China, domestic LED chip manufacturers have exceeded a dominant 70% market share. In addition, global companies have increased their packaging capacity in China. It is expected that Chinese LED packaging manufacturers will continue to expand production capacity in 2017.

Luma Technologies announces the addition of the Bell 206, 206L, 214ST , and 412 platforms to their list of certified LED Caution Warning panels for retrofit and fleet modernization programs. 

The sale of LEDVANCE by OSRAM to the Chinese investment consortium, consisting of the strategic investor IDG Capital, the LED packaging manufacturer MLS CO., LTD. (MLS) and Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center (Yiwu), was successfully completed effective on March 3rd, 2017 and with economic effect as of March 1st, 2017. This follows the parties obtaining all necessary approvals from the relevant authorities.

The World’s First Spectrum Tunable Smart Lighting System. Light Cube is a powerful Lighting Simulation System which includes a “Spectral Power Distribution Simulator—Light Cube,” a “SMART Spectrometer—Lighting Passport Pro,” and a multi-functional software “SMART Tunable Software—Spectrum Genius Light Cube.” With the help of this powerful system, users get to control not only the color and lightness of the light source, but also intelligently customize the CCT, CRI, Duv, illuminance, ...

Buying LED panel lights can be a challenging affair with tens of thousands of manufacturer and suppliers claiming to be the best. To simplify the task for you, our team of LED engineers has come up with this detailed LED buying guide with secret tips and ideas for flat panel lights.   

The respective additions of 3D Sensing and iris recognition into the next-generation iPhone devices and Samsung Galaxy S8 will generate a new wave of demand for IR (infrared) LEDs used in optical sensors. LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, has recently published its 2017 IR LED/IR Laser and Optical Sensor Market Report. In the report, LEDinside states that that the global market scale of IR LED and IR laser components used in iris and facial recognition solutions will grow from US$145 million in 2017 to US$827 million in 2025. The CAGR in the forecast period is estimated at 24%.

The new Scriptus range of luminaires fulfils all functional and aesthetic standards for Human Centric Lighting. The separately controllable direct and indirect distribution light units guarantee users high levels of individuality for personal settings and maximum visual comfort. In addition to 3000K and 4000K light colours, versions with Tunable White (TW) are also available.

Mikro Mesa Technology, a Micro LED startup from Taiwan, is reported to set up a Micro LED laboratory in Chongqing City, China. It is a collaboration between Mikro Mesa and Chinese Chongqing HKC Optoelectronics Technology, a local TFT-LCD panels maker.

Located in the middle of the Mediterranean, between Europe and Africa, the walled Cittadella on the Maltese Island of Gozo has been of strategic importance since the Phoenicians first set out in boats to trade with their neighbours more than a thousand years before the beginnings of the Roman Empire. Over the centuries the fortifications were regularly extended and improved by whoever had taken possession of the island at the time. Ironically 300 years without a siege meant that it was allowed to lapse into serious decay.

To better understand the obstacles to manufacturing, specifying, procuring, and installing LED lighting products, the U.S. Department of Energy's GATEWAY program has released a report evaluating the long-term performance characteristics (chromaticity change, maintained illuminance, and operations and maintenance) of LED lighting systems in four field installations, each of which was previously documented in its own DOE report:

The darkest form of ultraviolet light, known as UV-C, is unique because of its reputation as a killer – of harmful organisms. With wavelengths of between 200 and 280 nanometers, this particular form of UV light penetrates the membranes of viruses, bacteria, mold and dust mites, attacking their DNA and killing them. 

Power management company Eaton announced a collaboration with Internet of Things (IoT) leader Enlighted to accelerate the deployment of advanced sensory networks in commercial and industrial buildings. 

A study by UA researchers revealed that rats with neuropathic pain that were bathed in green LED showed more tolerance for thermal and tactile stimulus. A clinical trial involving people suffering from fibromyalgia is underway.

Luminus Devices, Inc., a global manufacturer of high-performance LEDs and solid-state light sources, recently announced volume availability of its new Xtreme Sensus chip-on-board (COB) LED array.

Seoul Semiconductor Europe, a subsidiary of Seoul Semiconductor Co.,Ltd, a major manufacturer of LED-technology, today announced the availability of reference modules based on its package-free Wicop LEDs.

Chinese LED manufacturer, Elec-Tech International (H.K) Co, Ltd, recently signed a MoU with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in Shenzhen, China.

Getting your hands dirty while growing plants might soon be something in the past. Aeroponics is an efficient and effective way to grow plants in an air or mist environment without soil and with very little water. It is portable and is suitable for people with limited growing space.

Providing a sleek and efficient alternative to traditional shoebox fixtures, MaxLite introduces LED Slim Area Lights as well designed illumination for roadways, parking areas and pedestrian routes.

While Chinese stage lighting provider Yajiang Photoelectric set out to upgrade its Stager line of lighting equipment, the company sought LED technology capable of delivering vibrant, saturated colors with a high color gamut, as well as fully tunable whites over a wide range of color temperatures. For its high efficiency, high flux density fixtures, the company also sought LEDs that deliver the highest flux densities from a small LED form factor.

Leedarson, a lighting specialist and ODM of energy efficient bulbs, recently set out to design an LED connected bulb that performs as well or better than the leading smart bulb but is available for a more affordable price.