Intertek Hong Kong marks another milestone in LED testing today with the Grand Opening of its LED Technology Center. It is the most advanced and comprehensive commercial third party LED testing center in Asia which offers a complete end-to-end solution on LED testing.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. (Revolution Lighting), a leader in advanced LED lighting solutions, announced it has closed its acquisition of Value Lighting Inc. and certain affiliates (Value Lighting).

After five years of intensive research in the field of printed organic electronics, the "PrintOLED - Printed Organic Light-Emitting Diodes" project has been successfully concluded. The project received around € 5 million (US $691 million) in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). 

On San Francisco’s northern waterfront lies the world-renowned historic fishing district, Fisherman’s Wharf. Home to an abundance of restaurants, hotels and attractions, the city’s most popular tourist destination attracts more than 10 million visitors a year who at the gateway can glimpse a nearly 16-foot iconic symbol of the area’s rich history and vibrant culture—the “crab wheel.”

Pathway Connectivity™ and Parsons The New School for Design - one of the most prestigious art and design universities in the world - established a partnership to advance students' appreciation for the role lighting can play in design. Pathway donated the use of a Cognito™ lighting console and provided technical support to help the students build an interactive lighting installation. The installation will be featured at lighting, architectural and technology events across the globe.

LumaStream announced that it has expanded its Trinity line of remote power drivers for LED lighting, adding an analog model with as many control zones as power channels to give lighting designers and system integrators ultimate design flexibility. Lighting applications where 0-10V controls are most common, but where only small numbers of LED fixtures are grouped together on one switch, can now have the same variety of lighting configurations as a digital, low-voltage system at the lower analog system price point.

The Green Trade Project Office under Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has continued to deepen its presence in the emerging Southern Hemisphere market, leading a delegation of Taiwanese LED lighting manufacturers to participate in the biennial EXPOLUX trade show scheduled to be held on April 22-26 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in an effort to help Taiwanese companies expand business opportunities.

LEDinside analyst Figo Wang, who has over a decade of experience in the Chinese LED industry, gives a thorough analysis of San’an Opto’s production capacity strategy in this article, and asks whether using this production capacity expansion plan as a threat is successfully deterring competitors.

Two Chinese companies were booted out of the bi-annual Light+Building trade fair this year for patent infringement. China’s intellectual property rights are facing an increasingly harsher environment as the LED industry enters the golden age. Coping with international intellectual rights has become a source of contention for many LED manufacturers, and a difficult issue to deal with for the Chinese LED industry. 

Apple’s new iPhone 6 is anticipated to hit the market in 3Q14, according to the United Evening News. The new model will have a larger screen than past iPhones at 5.5 inches. It has been rumored that the iPhone 6 will be priced at US$100 higher, due to the larger screen size and change in specs.

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) announced on April 16, 2014 that the company has signed a three year strategic agreement to sell LED chips to Foshan Nationstar (Nationstar). 

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 20.2, which is part of a series of investigations on LED PAR38 lamps. Report 20.2 focuses on dimming, flicker, and power quality characteristics evaluated with a single dimmer.

The Swiss company Forster Rohner AG with its business unit Textile Innovations uses PointLEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors to make its textiles shine. The products range from curtains with integrated LEDs to lamp shades and haute couture. The PointLED's round shape blends in ideally with the textile materials. This new, extraordinary area of application proves once more that there are hardly any limits to the small light emitting diode's versatility, and that they can be used for more than just general, industrial or automotive lighting.

New version of the first MINI with four doors, a large tailgate, five seats and optional all-wheel drive; new MINI Countryman (combined fuel consumption: 7.1- 4.2 l/100 km, combined CO2 emissions: 165 - 111 g/km) hones its profile as an all-round talent for versatile mobility and an active lifestyle.

Boards for high power UV LED applications such as UV curing, 3D printing, maskless lithography, photodynamic therapy, and fluorescence excitation in life science or machine vision. LumiBright UV Boards offer maximized heat and current spreading to deliver high UV optical power with superior thermal management and open platform flexibility that provides for totally unique and compact UV LED design solutions.

One of America's legendary pickup trucks, and the biggest seller in the USA, is now blazing the pioneer trail in lighting thanks to Osram. The 2015 model of the Ford F-150 will be the world's first pickup on the market with a complete LED forward lighting solution from Osram. 

Hubbell Lighting has launched the first outdoor LED luminaire controlled by using Bluetooth® technology—Kim Lighting’s LightVault® 8. The solid brass fixture, which features leading-edge LED optics, uses high-speed Bluetooth® technology to enable field aiming and dimming while offering control from your iPhone, Android or tablet.

Earlier in the month, id America launched a Kickstarter campaign for their LED light-equipped portable charger, named the L.E.D. 

LED lighting demands are booming this year, according to a report in the Economic Daily News. Sapphire substrate manufacturers saw good operational performance in 1Q14, and remain optimistic as the industry moves into 2Q14. 

There has been many rumors and speculations floating around the internet as to who will be the provider of OLED panels for Apple’s new iWatch. An increasing number of sources have been pointing their fingers towards LG lately. 

Lumenpulse Inc. announced that it has successfully completed an initial public offering of its common shares. In connection with the initial public offering, Lumenpulse issued 6,250,000 common shares at a price of $16.00 for total gross proceeds of $100 million. The Company's common shares will begin trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "LMP”.

“A facial expression is worth a thousand words” is the design concept behind the Mr. Pow backup battery. This adorable backup battery uses facial expressions lit up with small LED bulbs to alert users when their device’s batter is low instead of conventionally blinking dots and icons.

TNSC, a manufacturer of Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System, announces that it has signed a Technical Agreement with ITRI in Taiwan, which is a leading R&D Institution with advanced opto-electronic technologies.

Today Philips Lumileds delivers the most affordable chip-on-board (COB) arrays for PAR38 equivalent lamps, which achieve 10% or greater efficacy than competing solutions. Also ideal for spotlights, LUXEON CoB 1202 has a typical efficacy of 115 lm/W, and it varies from 95-130 lm/W depending on color temperature and CRI of the array.

Cree, Inc. introduces the LS Series linear LED luminaire, designed to replace the hundreds of millions of fluorescent strip, wrap and industrial fixtures currently installed in North America. The Cree® LS Series linear LED luminaire offers a market leading combination of sleek aesthetics and high performance, and complements Cree’s extensive troffer and linear luminaire portfolio.

Peerless®​ — a leading designer and manufacturer of architectural luminaires and one of the innovative lighting brands under the Acuity Brands, Inc.​ umbrella — announces the introduction of the Staple LED​ suite of suspended and wall-mount luminaires.

HELLA, a leading global supplier of automotive lighting and electronics, has developed an industry-first headlamp system that automatically adjusts high-beam light patterns for other traffic and pedestrians.

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) announced the joint venture with Seoul Semiconductor and Seoul Viosys (Viosys) on April 10th 2014. San’an Opto holds the largest share in the venture with 49 percent, investing around US $980,000. Seoul Semiconductor has a 25 percent share with US$ 500,000 investment, while Viosys holds 26 percent with a US$ 520,000 investment. The joint venture will cover areas including design, R&D, production, LED product sales, and provide related services. 

Light+Building 2014 was a huge success for Osram, where they showcased their newest innovations, products, and range of services. After the expo concluded, Osram conducted an interview with Dr. Peter Laier, Member of the Board, CTO about the markets transition into the digital era. 

Smart lighting has become the trump card  for manufactures who want to give themselves an edge in the market. Large manufacturers including Philips, Osram, Samsung, and LG all showcased their newest smart lighting products at Light+Building 2014. The idea that anything is possible through smart lighting was evident at this year’s exhibition in Frankfurt.