A smile confuses an approaching frown. But how do you like the idea of showing your smile while wearing a mask?

The multifunctional SUPERSYSTEM forms a unifying light element in the successful renovation of the listed arcades at the LWL Museum in the city of Muenster, Germany.

The Chinese central government’s policy of clamping down on local government subsidies in early December is expected to affect the LED industry subsidies too. LED industry insiders project the new policy will restore order to the overtly competitive Chinese LED market by edging out uncompetitive LED chip manufacturers. LEDinside has also released a series of reports this week that recap some of the major events and trends in the LED industry in 2014. For more please see below:

In recent years “labor shortages” and “layoffs” have become common terms in the Chinese LED manufacturing industry. In Guangdong Province in Southern China, short term labor shortages have increased in 2014 to reach between 800,000 to 1 million workers, according to a report by Chinese-language LEDtimes. Chinese electronic manufacturing conglomerates Haier Electronics, Gree Electric and Foxconn’s layoffs also attracted market attention.

Everlight plans to invest NT $30 billion (US $944.31 million) on production expansion in the next five years in Taiwan to compete in the international market, according to a news report from UDN.

Honglitronic announced on Christmas the company’s LED lighting subsidiary, Ledia Lighting’s, patent application was authorized by China’s State Intellectual Property Office, according to a report by Securities Times.

Many people don't know that there’s more to scientist Isaac Newton than a certain apple falling from a tree. Holding a prism of glass in the path of sunlight, he showed that white light is actually made up of seven different colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Color comes from light – in fact, color is light.

Bahri & Mazroei Trading Company (BMTC), part of the Bahri & Mazroei Group, a leading provider of solutions for buildings and infrastructure development projects in the Gulf, has launched its range of LED light fixtures from Arnsberg-based global lighting solutions manufacturer Trilux in the UAE.

Massachusetts plans to upgrade one-third of its streetlight around the state to LED lights, according to an AP report.

San Jose, the third largest city in California, U.S. has started installing new LED streetlights throughout December, according to a report by San Jose Mercury News.

Michela Mezzavilla, architect and lighting designer (APDI) based in Barcelona, Spain, and co-founder of studio reMM, shares in the GE lighting blog below her experience with hotel festive lighting.

The world's tallest digitally-animated Christmas tree, measuring 62.18 meters (204-feet), was lit today on the Toshiba, TDK and, for the first time, the Dunkin' Donuts screens on One Times Square.

The Chinese central government recently issued a statement requesting local governments to stop issuing LED chip and wafer subsidies or offer favorable tax conditions.

More and more Chinese lighting companies are joining the long Initial Public Offering (IPO) approval wait list despite Chinese government’s slow progress of the applications.

The Chinese LED package industry entered another production expansion peak in 2H14, with many large LED package manufacturers announcing production expansion plans.

The shipped amount of ceiling light in 2014 accounts for 38% of the total shipment value of all lights in China lighting E-commerce market, ranking first place with the highest shipments among all lighting products, according to the latest “2015 Chinese Lighting E-commerce Market Analysis” released by LEDinside, a research subsidiary of the Taipei-based market intelligence company TrendForce.

Calgary, located in Alberta, Canada plans to launch the second phase of its LED streetlight retrofit project to replace high pressure sodium lights, according to a report by CBCnews.

Camden County located in New Jersey, U.S. plans to save up on energy costs by converting the county’s streetlights to LEDs, according to a report by Courier-Post.

Introducing névo, the French designed timepiece that connects the elegance of the past with the power of the future in a sleek modern watch with activity tracking, phone notifications, and unique LED goal progression indicators. névo combines style and practicality resulting in a beautifully useful tool for health conscience, active people. 

The BIT Light™ is a new modular lighting system that provides an alternative means of adjusting the illumination level found with most lighting fixtures. Unlike traditional fixtures, the BIT Light consists of a collection of self-supporting illuminating modules (BITs) which can be simply added or removed by the end-user to increase or decrease the fixture’s brightness, without requiring technical skills or the help of specialists.

The San Diego Padres have selected Daktronics (NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota, to provide a new LED video display system for Petco Park that will include the third largest video display in all of baseball.

It’s that time of year again, where we give thanks for our family, friends, customers and also reflect on the past year’s accomplishments. 2014, for LED Source, was a year of EXTREME Savings. Most of our projects show great savings in lighting energy and maintenance costs, but some go above and beyond with up to 90% savings. Don’t believe it? Check out how and why these projects saved money by switching to LED lights.

Major lighting brands in the Chinese lighting market are active in the e-commerce market and expanding online channels, according to a new research report by LEDinside, a division of the Taiwan-based market intelligence firm TrendForce. Competition is fierce in the burgeoning Chinese online market. The top four brands in terms of market share are Opple, NVC, Philips and Aozzo.

San’an Opto is expected to fully benefit from the growing LED market value, according to a report from China Finance Media.

One of the main LED industry indicators to look into in 2014 is manufacturers exponentially growing production volume. Where did this production capacity come from? Production capacity seen in 2014 mostly came from 2Q13 LED package expansions. A cloud of doom crept over the industry in 2012, as the industry’s oversupply situation triggered price wars and bankruptcy tsunami. Yet, in 2Q13 severe LED package shortages emerged as the slumping lighting market abruptly boomed. Many LED package manufacturers shared an optimistic market outlook at the time, some even doubled production capacity in a relatively short period.

SemiLEDs Corporation (NASDAQ: LEDS), “SemiLEDs” or the “Company,” a developer and manufacturer of LED chips and LED components, today announced it has entered into a definitive common stock purchase agreement with Mr. XiaoQing Han, Chairman and CEO of Beijing XiaoQing Environmental Protection Group. Under the terms of this agreement, Mr. Han will acquire a 15% interest in SemiLEDs common stock at a purchase price of $1.00 per share for a total consideration of $5.0 million and will join the SemiLEDs Board of Directors upon closing of the transaction.

The Discover LED Lighting survey from North American lighting leader OSRAM SYLVANIA finds nearly one third of American households surveyed have lighting issues in key areas of the home. Brightness, color and usage time are major lighting concerns in some rooms, and these issues could be easily fixed by upgrading lighting to LEDs. In fact, 90 percent of Americans surveyed that use LED lighting in their homes report high levels of satisfaction.

LEDs are known for the long lifespan of lasting nearly 20 years compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, but one long living incandescent bulb has fought against the rule of physics and kept lighting experts baffled.

Hartlepool Borough Council reported saving over £1.2 million (US $1.86 million) in a project to upgrade 13,644 sodium-vapor streetlights into energy-saving LED streetlights, according to a news from local British media Hartlepool Mail.

Following the MiPower’s successful Kickstarter campaign for PLAYBULB candle & PLAYBULB color, the company has launched another crowd funding campaign for its PLAYBULB rainbow.