GT Advanced Technologies (GT) announced that it will be making its next generation ASF165 sapphire growth furnace, for the production of high volume and high quality sapphire material, commercially available in 3Q14.

Cree introduced a series of LED T8 replacement tubes yesterday in their bid push the lighting market towards 100 percent adoption of LEDs. The LED T8 series is designed to replace linear fluorescent tubes. 

MaxLite®, a global manufacturing of energy-efficient lamps and lighting fixtures, has announced the appointment of Donille Perrone to Director of Marketing. Perrone reports directly to Thomas Rhee, Executive Vice President of MaxLite. Perrone brings over 15 years of marketing experience with a strong lighting background.

Conceptor, a product design team based in Kiev, Ukraine has come up with Lunecase, an elegant and smart LED iPhone case that is super energy efficient.

Future Lighting Solutions is pleased to announce the completion of a successful project with Studio DL and Leipziger Leuchten, in developing unique new LED lighting that provides energy-efficient ambiance to the grassy beach area along the Baltic Sea in Niendorf, with customized modules enabling adjustable brightness.

The Finally Light Bulb Company, www.finallybulbs.com, today introduced the first energy-efficient A type light bulb that replicates the familiar warm and reassuring glow of the now-banned incandescent bulbs that consumers love and miss. The Finally™ light bulb uniquely incorporates the same classic design of an incandescent bulb, provides the energy-efficiency consumers demand and produces light quality that LED and CFL bulbs cannot deliver at an affordable price.    

VOLT® Lighting (www.voltlighting.com), a manufacturer of high-performance lighting products, announced the release of the their FOREVER BULB™, a new line of energy-saving LED light bulbs that challenge the booming LED retrofit market.

Apple’s recent interest in sapphire substrate has got the industry talking as to what future Apple product will use the material. Long since used in LED lighting applications and handheld devices, sapphire substrate will soon be the spotlight in the industry once Apple’s Arizona factory is up and running. 

GT Advanced Technologies’ (GT) Arizona sapphire substrate facility reportedly began small scale sapphire production last month. Stephen Chin, analyst of UBS, revealed that the facility has also already begun shipping material to a Chinese supplier. 

Taiwan citizens could soon see a jump in electricity costs as the country faces energy shortages. Anti-nuclear sentiment is gaining momentum in the country as construction for Taiwan’s controversial fourth nuclear power plants nears completion. 

Philips Canlyte announced it will close its doors after 27 years, leaving around 190 workers without jobs. 

Apple has acquired LuxVue Technology, a startup company that focuses on making low power micro-LED based displays in the consumer market, according to a TechCrunch report.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published the 2014 edition of the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) R&D Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP). This year's edition provides a description of the activities DOE plans to undertake over the next several years to implement its SSL mission, and informs the development of annual SSL R&D funding opportunities.

The National Lighting Bureau’s has announced its 35th annual High-Benefit Lighting Awards Program. The unique program is open to owners, architects, engineers, interior designers, facility and property managers, contractors, manufacturer’s representatives, utility employees, users, and virtually anyone else associated with a new or upgraded illumination system that provides at least some of the many benefits of what the Bureau calls High-Benefit Lighting(r).

Rubicon Technology, Inc., a provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, semiconductor, and optical industries, today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2014.

Since being first introduced in the 1950’s, hula hoops have remained popular among both children and adults. Berlin even has a festival dedicated to the hula hoop. Started in 2005, this June will mark Hoopla! Berlin’s third annual festival.

Cleveland’s historic Playhouse Square will turn on the world’s largest permanent outdoor chandelier on Friday at 9:30 pm ET. The 20-foot tall stainless steel light piece will shimmer with 4,200 crystal pendants and LEDs fixtures drawing just 1,700 watts (the equivalent of 17 standard 100-watt light bulbs.)

Visitors will be able to view their market-leading products, including the 11W LED DIMMABLE OMNI DIRECTIONAL A19 light bulb. The company is using their presence at the National Hardware Show to showcase their eco-friendly, energy efficient products. GreenliteTM representatives will be available May 6th through May 8th to demonstrate and discuss their Energy Star® LED bulbs. 

Nuclear energy has been a hot topic in Taiwan this week, as construction plans to the country’s fourth nuclear power plant have come to a temporary halt. LED industry heavy weights including Epistar and Delta Electronics have been weighing in, urging the government that LEDs are a better alternative energy solution. 

The Korean won is anticipated to rise against the U.S. dollar in the coming months, the strongest in six years. The Taiwan new dollar, on the other hand, is expected to depreciate against the Korean currency. 

The realization of OLED technology is contingent upon the development of appropriate materials, processing strategies and device structures which are scalable in terms of their cost, capacity, and capability. During the past decade significant progress has been achieved in the synthesis and characterization of OLED materials. 

AIXTRON SE announced revenues of EUR 43.9m for the first quarter of 2014, representing a year-on-year improvement of 9%. Capacity utilization rates at leading LED manufacturers remain at relatively high levels and demand for LEDs continues to be on the rise. Despite this, there was still no noticeable increase in investments in LED manufacturing capacity expansions in Q1/2014. 

Artificial lighting is threatening the sea turtle population. After emerging from their shells in the wee hours of the morning, sea turtle hatchlings instinctively find their way to the sea by the light reflected on the ocean. Modern society is now posing a threat to their survival as the brightest light is no longer coming from the ocean, but from hotels and shops along the ocean front.

Lighting fixtures have been created in all shapes and sizes over the years. It is hard to imagine a new design that can still wow. German graduate designer Theo Möller however has done just that, with his unique inflatable LED light. 

PHILIPS LEDALITE has designed the Chopstick LED luminaire with inconspicuous scale and clean lines for the exacting demands of architectural spaces. Chopstick LED delivers up to 108 lumens per watt and has a wide lateral distribution in the upper hemisphere enabling wider row spacing, reducing the number of fixtures required, which means a significant reduction in lighting related energy consumption and an uncluttered space.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium (MSSLC) has released an update to its Model Specification for Adaptive Control and Remote Monitoring of LED Roadway Luminaires, V1.0. The new resource has been renamed to better reflect its evolving scope. 

Philips Lighting’s latest market data shows uptake of LED lighting continues to increase as more New Zealanders make the switch for better energy efficiency. That growth is expected to continue as the price point for this next generation lighting option continues to reduce.

Osram recorded a significant year-on-year earnings increase in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2014. The business with LED-based products (Solid State Lighting, or SSL) continued to rise strongly in the second quarter and achieved a revenue share of 34 percent.

Soraa announced that eight of their most popular MR16 products have been recognized with the ENERGY STAR qualification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the first full-visible-spectrum LEDs to attain this qualification. The ENERGY STAR label certifies that Soraa’s MR16 products have met the stringent energy efficiency standards and performance criteria established by the EPA.

Cree, Inc. expands its industry-leading LED bulb portfolio with the PAR38 Cree® LED Bulb family. These ground-breaking bulbs leverage the same technical innovations that made the Cree LED Bulb the best-selling LED light bulb in America – delivering a PAR38 replacement that looks and lights the way consumers expect, but uses 80 percent less energy.