To promote the sports model MX-5, Mazda created “Mazda Drives: The Sound of Tomorrow” campaign, the highlight of which is a special DJ concert by DJ Vicious, six-time Tomorrowland DJ, with flair as the Mazda MX-5 made music on a large vinyl record in place of a pick up needle. 

MaxLite has expanded its line of LED Post Top Lamps with higher output models designed to replace 125- to 175-watt metal halide sources in enclosed outdoor lighting fixtures.

Several interesting developments happened in the OLED sector this week, with the Taiwanese government announcing it will be pouring US $3 billion to develop flexible AMOLED and PMOLED industries in the nation. The flexible display technology will be co-developed with ITRI, and the government aims to form a comprehensive OLED supply chain in Taiwan and reducing the country’s reliance on material imports. Cadillac also showcased its OLED concept car in California on Friday, where it is employing four large OLED panels for its Escala concept car dashboard.

Top LED manufacturer AOT posted stable revenues for second quarter, but bad product portfolio and pressure to lower prices, lead to sliding gross margins and net losses.

Diehard fans of Star Wars that have dreamed of deflecting laser light beams with Jedi light sabers might get a chance in a future Disneyland.

The Escala Concept debuts in California tonight, introducing the next evolution of Cadillac design and previewing the craftsmanship and technology being developed for many future models. Following a series of private previews, Escala will be displayed this weekend at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

In order to reflect its true value to the lighting industry, the National Association of Independent Lighting Distributors has changed its name to the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors, the organization announced today.

The night of August 18th marks a new milestone at The Wharf, as Hoffman-Madison Waterfront's commitment to revitalizing the Southwest waterfront comes to life. On August 18th at 9:15pm, the new lighting design of the Francis Case Memorial Bridge (Case Bridge) will be inaugurated by Washington DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser. The inaugural lighting will gradually unveil the final design, offering a new perspective on the bridge and the City.

Lunera® announced its third generation family of High Intensity Discharge (HID) LED lamps.  The family includes the world’s first Line Driven HID LED lamp to replace traditional 400W Metal Halide (MH) or High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps that deliver 20,000 fixture lumens. The new lamps, in 20,000, 15,000, 9,000 and 4,5000 lumen packages, are designed to deliver exceptional energy savings, access to rebates, installation convenience and high value in warehouses, factory floors, parking garages, auditoriums and other large public gathering spaces such as airport terminals.

Chinese LED manufacturers Nationstar, Opple Lighting and Ocean King all unveiled their latest earnings for first half of 2016.

Everlight announced that it will be filing another suit to invalidate Nichia’s YAG LED patent in Germany.

Just as LED manufacturers are struggling in face of the declining profit in the lighting sector and the contraction of the backlight market, OLED emerges as the latest threat to their survival. Elevated by its potential to become one of Apple’s core technologies, OLED has expanded rapidly into various display and niche applications. While the LED industry expects even more challenging times ahead, new opportunities also appear on the horizon. Micro LED, which has been incorporated into Apple and Sony’s product roadmaps, are poised to become a commercially viable display technology that can be mass produced for everyday applications.

Chinese manufacturers technology have advanced in the past year to result in large GaN price fluctuations, and have entered III-V EPI-wafer synthesizing industry to build a comprehensive IoT and telecommunication supply chain in the upstream sector.

LG Innotek announced that the company mass-produces high power LED packages (3535 Gen4 series) for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics stadium.

LEDVANCE announced that SYLVANIA smart lights can now be easily controlled via voice directly with the OSRAM LIGHTIFY® Gateway and Alexa-enabled devices including the hands-free voice controlled speaker Amazon Echo, helping make the Smart Home a reality for the general public. In addition to being able to control your lighting, Amazon Echo connects to Alexa to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather, and more—instantly.

BeON Home, creator of the first home protection system that provides preventative security, safety and emergency lighting, released a key fob accessory to make home protection activation even simpler and more intuitive. Drawing on the company's extensive design experience, the new BeON key fob allows users of all ages to instantly activate the BeON system without the need for a smart phone or tablet.

Opple Lighting successfully closed its first IPO and raised RMB 864 million (US $130.26 million) after issuing 58 million shares, the company stated.

OLED displays might not be found on all iPhone 8 that is rumored to be launched in September 2017, according to a Barron’s blog article.

Lenovo demonstrated prototype tablets and smartphones housing flexible displays at Lenovo Tech World in June 2016, but its latest online video shows the company might launch other new products at the upcoming IFA in the next few weeks.

Changelight announced its revenue soared 107.14% to RMB 458.34 million (US $69.08 million) in second half of 2016, but its net profits tumbled, reported China Securities.

With judgment dated August 16, 2016 (docket number X ZR 96/14), the German Federal Court of Justice decided that the German part of Nichia’s patent EP 936 682 (DE 697 02 929), i.e. the “YAG patent” is valid. As a consequence, the Federal Court of Justice lifted entirely the first instance judgment of the German Federal Patent Court from 2014 (docket number 2 Ni 11/12) which had found Nichia’s YAG patent invalid and dismissed in total the nullity action initiated by Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. (“Everlight”).

Kyulux, an advanced materials startup company that is commercializing the next generation of OLED display and lighting technology known as TADF (Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence), announced today that it has secured a license to  Harvard University's  Molecular Space Shuttle deep learning system for the discovery of materials for display and lighting applications. The Molecular Space Shuttle is an artificial intelligence platform designed by Alán Aspuru-Guzik's group at  Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of US $388 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, ended June 26, 2016. This represents a 2% increase compared to revenue of $382 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, and a 6% increase compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2016. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter was $11 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $88 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 was $19 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 of $21 million, or $0.19 per diluted share.

Global Clean Energy, GCE has signed distribution agreements with EPG Source of Dallas, Texas a leading Smart Energy and LED provider.

Zumtobel illuminates the new constructed Sägerbrücke bridge in Dornbirn by using a customised LED outdoor solution. With SUPERSYSTEM outdoor it was possible to achieve a completely uniform illumination of the entire surface and maximum visual comfort for the bridge and the “Do.Helix” installation crafted by the artist Hubert Lampert. The precise light distribution helps avoid unnecessary light pollution, mean that the lighting solutions represents an extremely energy-efficient choice.

Innovations in Optics introduces the LumiSun-50™ high power, multi-wavelength LED Solar Simulator that meets Class AAA solar simulator requirements of IEC 60904-9 for spectral match, uniformity of irradiance, and temporal stability. Primary applications for the LumiSun-50 are terrestrial photovoltaic testing and PV research.  A discount price is available for academic and research institutes in support of their efforts to improve global sustainability. 

RunLites®, a revolutionary wearable technology solution featuring rechargeable lights, is turning night into light by introducing two new product lines: the RunLites SLING and RunLites Splash in ultra-cool styles and colors.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced it will be supporting the development of OLED technology in Taiwan and will be investing NT $100 billion (about US $3.21 billion) to develop the technology, during a press conference to promote new display technologies in the country’s capital Taipei, stated the ministry.

HC Semitek revenue was impressive for first half of 2016, according to the company’s latest financial statements.

China Electric and Philips Lighting launched a joint International Lighting Design Center in Taipei on Monday, stated Taiwanese LED luminaire manufacturer China Electric.