HexaTech Inc. announced today that it has received a continuation of funding under the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) development program. The cost-share extension is valued at $1.2 million over 1 year, and follows $2.8 million over 2 years when the contract was initiated in 2012.

Growing vegetables in greenhouses extends crop production seasons in northern latitudes, but the greenhouse environment is far from ideal for providing plants with optimal photosynthetic light. In fact, available photosynthetic daily light in greenhouses can be reduced by up to 50% or more by the structures' glazing material, superstructure, and shading. In northern latitudes, low light is considered the most limiting environmental factor in greenhouse vegetable production.

Audi is presenting its next step in automotive lighting technology at the IAA in Frankfurt. The new Matrix OLED lights enable a previously unattainable level of lighting homogeneity, opening up further creative opportunities for design.

On July 20th, Jiangxi Outrace Technology Co., Ltd (Outrace) announced that, thanks to its completely automated production lines, the company can now produce one finished product every 3 seconds. Daily output of LED bulbs alone has been ramped up to around 450,000 units, while most of the peers are maxing out at around 200,000 units, evidencing that Outrace has brought capacity up to double that of other LED bulb manufactures.

Soraa, the world leader in GaN on GaN™ LED technology, has announced that 245 of its LED lamps have been installed in Gieves & Hawkes’s elegant Savile Row flagship store in London. Founded in 1771, Gieves & Hawkes has always incorporated luxury with function. The well-respected tailor is known for outfitting the United Kingdom’s armed services and the British Royal Family as well as designing stylish yet classic suits for men. The retailer’s approach to lighting design was no different—while the lamps needed to be energy efficient and functional, they also needed to be luxurious and refined. Gieves & Hawkes wanted to reduce energy costs associated with lighting, improve efficiency and highlight their bespoke craftsmanship. Soraa’s simply perfect lighting solutions were the best products to meet Gieves & Hawkes’s needs.

Moderate economic growth in 2015 has become the “new norm” for the stabilizing Chinese economy. With the Chinese government introducing industry restructures, explosive economic growth has become history. Gone are the good days for businesses, lighting manufacturers orders have plummeted, but costs are rising. The impact from e-commerce has misled some manufacturers, and the market has briefly become a “besieged fortress.” Some manufacturers are hanging on, while others are seeking alternative options to leave the industry, or quietly withdraw from the market, according to Guzhen Lighting Weekly.

One year ago, Seoul Semiconductor filed a patent infringement lawsuit in U.S. Federal District Court asserting that Craig’s sales of LED backlighting unit products infringed five of Seoul’s patents. On July 23, 2015, the court finally issued the judgment in favor of Seoul Semiconductor stating that Craig acknowledged infringement of all the asserted patents and their validity.

Adjusted EBITA margin increases to 9.5%in the third quarter Revenue up 12%; almost stable on a comparable basis Carve-out of lamps business planned to be completed by spring 2016

Different types of smart LED lighting solutions have taken the spotlight at lighting exhibitions these years. There has been a heated discussion about whether smart lighting’s entry in the market. Bestselling smart lighting products in China are not necessarily those with the best quality, and are often average quality. The fact that they are manufactured in China also doesn’t excite consumers.

A research team from Beijing Tsing Hua University has made a groundbreaking graphene LED that is capable of color tuning to most colors under the visible spectrum, according to a Phys.org report.

Lighting Science Group (LSG), a global leader in superior lighting solutions that are environmentally-responsible and energy-efficient, has been chosen as a founding partner in the $200 million plan that will make Pakistan's largest urban area the country’s first “Smart City".

As the world’s largest cricket ground by capacity and the largest sports stadium in the southern hemisphere, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club and many sporting, music and cultural events since 1854.  With the goal to improve and personalize customer experience at MCG, customized exterior dynamic lighting has been integrated as part of the “Smart Stadium” upgrade.

Appropriately themed “Envision the future of lights” after its mission, the 20th edition of the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition had participants sharing inspirational ideas and innovative technologies. Dialogue of this nature is essential in shaping the future of the lighting industry. Held from 9 – 12 June 2015, the fair spanned across 21 halls and occupied 225,000 sqm. The show closed with a 4.7% increase in visitor figures from the previous year, totalling 135,990 professional visitors (2014:129,885) from 131 countries and regions including over 5500 domestic and overseas delegates. These numbers were duly matched by a record-breaking 2,698 exhibitors (2014: 2,621) representing 27 countries and regions.

MaxLite provides the nostalgic look and warmth of Edison-style filament incandescent bulbs with the energy-saving benefits of LED technology in its new Filament Lamp Series. Designed for retail, residential and hospitality applications, the line of vintage lamps includes a full range of decorative bulb shapes (A19, ST18, T14, G30 and B11) to complement ceiling, pendant, wall, and post top fixtures. The lamps are constructed of a tinted, antique-looking glass cover and visible linear LED filaments that deliver the warm, amber glow of their incandescent counterparts, but offer a much longer lifetime of 15,000 hours. All MaxLite LED filament lamps are UL listed and dimmable with standard incandescent dimmers.

Net profits improved for Dutch lighting giant Philips, mostly due to strong sales growth in its Healthcare and strong margin improvements in Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting businesses. However, performance in emerging markets including China, Russia and Latin America had declined.

Cree LED bulbs for residential lighting receives Focus on Energy rebates for the first time in Wisconsin State, U.S, according to a report by The Journal Times.

A display expert believes micro-LED displays, such as those made by Apple’s newly acquired low-power display maker LuxVue could become a game changer in the display market, according to a report by Apple Insider.

Background Chedraui is one of the top supermarket chains in México, with additional stores in the United States, employing over 35,000 people. They operate over 217 locations, 150 of which are over 7,000 square meters. Project Chedraui wanted to reduce their building maintenance costs and save energy while improving in-store light quality. Specifically, increase the color rendering index (CRI) so products would appear more attractive to shoppers and result in increased sales.

Plessey announced today that its dotLED range, designed specifically for wearable applications, has been expanded with a wider selection of colours, including red, green and blue. The extremely small LED die have a footprint of only 0.2mm x 0.2mm, which makes them a perfect fit for low profile electronic wearable applications.

The Cruise’s popularity as a vacation option is ever-increasing.  The trend has led to bigger and better ships, regularly reaching mammoth proportions to ferry eager tourists to paradise and back.   Bigger ships mean bigger ports, like Florida’s two-story, 187,500 square foot Canaveral Cruise Terminal 1. Opened to the public in December of 2014, the terminal on the south side of the harbor is able to process ships of 6,000 passengers or more, while offering retail, dining and entertainment establishments.

Hudson Valley Lighting®, a leader in classic, contemporary and transitional lighting fixtures for more than 20 years, is proud to announce that esteemed, award-winning, New York-based interior designer, Jamie Drake has signed a multi-year contract to design a series of collections. This new alliance was announced by Brent Fields, vice president of Hudson Valley Lighting. The first “Jamie Drake for Hudson Valley Lighting” collections will launch at Dallas International Lighting Market in January 2016.

LED package manufacturer Everlight and Japan’s largest LED manufacturer Nichia initiated patent wars in Japan, Taiwan, Germany, U.S. and other countries for the past decade, reported Chinese-language magazine Money Weekly. Nichia is one of the top five global LED manufacturers, and spending largely on patent lawsuits against Everlight.  The reason behind these tactics is patents are the only arsenal left for LED Japanese manufacturers that are falling behind Taiwanese and Chinese counterparts production expansion.

French technology media nowhereelse.com latest leaked photos of the iPhone 6S suggest the design will be similar to existing iPhone 6.

A further new white LED patent which covers, among others, YAG phosphors has been granted by the European Patent Office in favor of Nichia Corporation ("Nichia"), namely EP 2 276 080.

On the occasion of Philips’ sixth consecutive Cape Town to Cairo roadshow, Philips today unveiled the newly illuminated National Theatre of Ghana. Philips, the global leader in lighting, has provided the theatre with a stunning makeover, using its latest connected LED technology to boost the beautification of the city of Accra, while also cutting energy consumption by up to 80%, as compared to the existing conventional lighting. The new lighting system is installed throughout the entire façade of the National Theatre, enhancing its distinctive architectural structure and contributing to the building’s energy saving performance.

At Sandy Grove Middle School in Lumber Bridge, North Carolina, students not only get an education in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math subjects at this STEM school. They also attend classes in their very own environmental laboratory and learn first-hand the benefits of a new concept in sustainability for educational institutions — a net-positive school building that produces more energy than it consumes. The school even has a working energy dashboard that tracks the performance of the facility’s green elements, enabling teachers to use the building itself as a teaching tool.

Chinese LED manufacturer Leyard intends to expand its business in the Indian market by investing in Indian LED manufacturer MIC Electronics, according to a report from Indian newspaper The Economic Times.

The growing influence of the Industrial Internet (which connects the physical and digital worlds) is leading to designs that combine LED with wireless sensors and data-transmitting technology. When used in a ‘smart city’ environment, this kind of infrastructure is capable of far more than just lighting, providing real safety benefits for citizens. Examples of successful use of LED for safety purposes have been already implemented in cities such as Bauru in Brazil and La Garrotxa in Spain.

Columbia University’s ultraviolet (UV) light technology has been licensed to USHIO Inc., a Tokyo-based developer, manufacturer, and marketer of light sources and instruments.

This week Bridgelux announced it has sealed a deal to be acquired by CEC, but did not disclose CEC’s offer. LEDinside team believes Epistar would benefit from this recent acquisition, with LED orders being kept within affiliated Epistar companies. Bridgelux CEO also spoke to LEDinside about the impact from the recent acquisition.