For the first time in the history of the National Hockey League, a U.S. arena will feature LED lighting, when PNC Arena—home to the Carolina Hurricanes—unveils the new, cutting-edge system for the preseason opener this fall. Dave Olsen, Executive Vice President and General Manager of PNC Arena, announced today that the Centennial Authority has partnered with Musco, which will install its innovative Show-Light Green™ LED system in the coming weeks.

Major Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Everlight delivered a solid performance in 2Q14, and is likely to set new revenue records in the following quarter as the industry enters conventional peak season, according to a Money DJ report.

Philips lighting comparable sales increased 1 percent year-on-year. LED-based sales grew 43 percent and now represent 36 percent of total Lighting sales, compared to 25 percent in Q2 2013. The EBITA margin, excluding restructuring and acquisition related charges and other items, improved to 8.6 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage points year-on-year.

Recently, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and State Key Laboratory of Solid State Lighting (SKLSSL) held a meeting in Beijing to discuss the inception of LED specs, according to a Xinhua.net report.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will be changing LED bulb energy efficiency tests, according to a report from Chinese media Xinhua.net.

Taiwanese lighting manufacturer Everlight has released a statement that clearly shows the company’s aim of developing the Chinese lighting market, the statement also assured investors recent restructures were made to meet challenges ahead. The notice outlined the company’s intent to attract more distributors in the future.

Long hours of nighttime driving can cause eyestrain because while our vision adapts to the surrounding darkness, the sudden stabs of brightness from streetlamps can be irritating, distracting and even painful. Even as LED technology has transformed the lighting industry, bringing the promise of more energy-efficient road illumination, some fear that the new lights could cause even more troublesome, unsafe glare.

Targeting the US $5.6 billion indoor lighting market, Taiwan has recently set up an Organic Light-emitting Diode Lighting Commercialization Alliance (OLCA), according to a China Post report.

Solid Apollo LED's new wall mounted Duet DMX & RGB-W LED Controller has been created to control LED light fixtures in three different ways. Users can independently control DMX enabled LED fixtures or non-DMX LED fixtures operating in RGB-W mode, or use both DMX and non-DMX systems simultaneously.

OSRAM SYLVANIA, Xicato, Qualcomm, the American Lighting Association and more will share their vision for the future of solid state lighting at Smithers Apex’s LEDs and the SSL Ecosystem 2014: Lighting in the Information Age. This 15th annual conference and exhibition will take place September 22-24, 2014 at the Hyatt Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The Super Early Bird price of $799 expires Friday, July 25th. “LEDs’ approach to the ecosystem of lighting is blazing a trail beyond the pedestrian questions of $/klm (cost) or lm/W (efficiency) in general illumination.  Using a sophisticated compound semiconductor material system to produce ‘just’ light is a wasted opportunity – SSL Ecosystem 2014: Lighting in the Information Age focuses on the ‘what else’, unlocking the digital potential of this platform. There is no other event like it,” says Dr. Neil Cameron, Investment Director, Emerald Ventures.

This week analysts forecast a potential setback for Apple as manufacturing issues might delay the launch of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 to 2015.  GTAT’s stocks have also been hurt by low sapphire yield rates at its Arizona plant over the last two weeks, as analysts from large financial institutes including UBS, CLSA and Canaccord Genuity mark down the company's investment ratings. Analysts from CLSA and Conaccord Genuity have suggested the limited sapphire yield will signal limited usage in the new iPhone models

The Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition has once again provided an impressive demonstration of the growth of Asia’s lighting and LED market as well as the growing significance of the region to the international lighting community, reconfirming its role as the most influential lighting and LED event in Asia. In total, 2,621 brands (2013: 2,588) from 25 countries and regions exhibited this year, utilising a record-breaking 21 halls across 225,000 sqm of space.

Whenever innovative technologies emerge, speculators often will sail with the wind and urge for the technology’s advancement. They will also start listing the old technology’s flaws. In reality, there is nothing definite in new and old technology. By using innovative technologies for reference, old technologies can further advance, while immature new technologies might meet an early demise.

Over 80 percent of Chinese LED companies have reported good profits in first half of 2014, according to data compiled by Shanghai Securities News.

Philips is currently in talks with Google owned thermostat company Nest on integrating thermostats into smart bulbs, according to a Slash Gear report.

Under a new UK energy department plan to cut UK power consumption, British households might be paying out millions of pounds in energy bills to provide supermarkets and airports with free LED lighting, according to a Telegraph report.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have taken a major stride toward perfectly efficient lighting that is also relatively inexpensive and simple to make. The same material can also reveal the presence of water by changing color.

Russian freight railway manufacturer UralVagonZavod (UVZ) has launched a prototype tram using smart LED lights ahead of the next World Cup games, according to a CNBeta.com report.

Nanoleaf, the LED bulb startup company that released that successfully kickstarted a campaign to fund a highly energy efficient bulb last year is now stepping up its game with a new dimmable bulb that is dimmer-free.

Royal Philips, the global leader in lighting, has unveiled the spectacular illumination of Ghana’s iconic Black Star Monument with its latest LED lighting technology, boosting the beautification of the city of Accra and cutting energy consumption by 80 percent as compared to the existing conventional lighting. Philips is showcasing its LED lighting solutions in Ghana as part of its fifth consecutive pan-African Cairo to Cape Town roadshow. The new lighting solutions from Philips will highlight and enhance the architectural quality and aesthetic beauty of one of the most iconic structures in the city.

Hubbell Lighting, a world leader in lighting innovation, announced today Litecontrol’s newest customizable LED indirect/direct pendants—Knife and Rail. Uniquely, the Knife and Rail are available with Litecontrol’s revolutionary Variable Intensity (Vi) Technology. With Litecontrol’s Vi Technology, customers are no longer limited by standard fixture configurations, but can specify the exact amount of light and power as well as beam distribution to perfectly illuminate any environment.

Fremont Micro Devices USA Inc. announced a new design kit for the FT8260B that reduces the design time of AC/DC LED driver applications. 

LED EPI wafer and chip manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) Chairman David Chung upheld a positive outlook for the flip chip industry at a company shareholders meeting on June 18, 2014.

Once three market indicators that signal the arrival of the maturing LED industry are reached, clients will no longer be focused on energy efficiency anymore, a China-led.org report cited Taiwan LED Lighting Industry Alliance Secretary Horng-Ching Hsiao saying at Green Lighting 2014 in Shanghai, China.  

Taiwanese LED lighting manufacturer Lextar revenue will grow steadily in second half of 2014, as the company benefits from international manufacturers rising lighting OEM orders and new LED TV backlight clients that is alleviating the risks of relying on orders from a single client, according to a Money DJ report.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo has preliminary approved Osram Sylvania US $ 30 million settlement over falsely advertising superiority of halogen headlights to deceive consumers into overpaying, according to a Law360 report.

Increasingly market popularity for Patterned Sapphire Substrate (PSS) has led to Aceplux Optotech to increase capital by NT $297 million (US $9.90 million), according to a Money DJ report.

While importers have been shifting their focus to LED lamps and are importing from Chinese manufacturers, it is important they get the right kind of information about requirements and qualifications of their Chinese suppliers. Here is an article by LED Lights Supplier - Lightinstar

Plessey announced it has entered into a distribution agreement with CODICO GmbH, a demand creation distributor for electronic components, headquartered in Perchtoldsdorf, Austria and with offices across Europe. With CODICO, Plessey will be expanding its European network with coverage in Central and East European, Italian and Danish market for its GaN-on-Si LED products.

LED Lighting manufacturer Evluma moves into a larger manufacturing facility at the end of July 2014. Located in Renton, Washington, U.S., the new facility embraces Lean Manufacturing philosophies and increases Evluma's manufacturing capacity by up to five times. The new site provides room to expand, allowing Evluma to bring on additional Lean lines in parallel with demand. Evluma makes the move to better serve and support their customer base.