Lighting on a cruise ship calls for something striking, elegant, and luxurious, yet at the same time robust and energy-efficient. With the help of OSRAM‘s energy efficient LED technology, two of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)’s newest ships – “Getaway” and the award-winning “Breakaway” – are able to achieve the design vision, while reducing ship operators’ energy costs by up to 18 percent. 

Leading IP Storage, IP Networking, IP Security, and IP CCTV distributor Lan 1, is partnering with Raytec, the world leading manufacturer of LED lighting for CCTV and general area illumination. Raytec is the newest addition to the Lan 1 portfolio and is their sole lighting partner in Australia.

Xicato announced availability of its new XTM module. With more than 100 lumens per Watt at operating temperatures, XTM is a cost effective module that outperforms competitors by as much as 20% in its 1300, 2000 and 3000 lumen packages. The Zhaga compatible mechanical interface enables virtually any luminaire manufacturer to quickly and easily incorporate XTM into existing luminaires and for the first time offer Xicato’s renowned light quality and consistency to a broader portion of the professional lighting market without sacrificing system efficiency. 

As LED enters conventional peak season in March it will initiate the LED lighting cycle, with demands estimated to return to peak heights in 2010, according to latest research by Guotai Junan Securities. The Chinese financial institute projected sapphire substrate prices will continue its upward climb in 2014 and enter the big LED trend.

Leyard has become the global leading manufacturer for LED small pitch TV displays. The company currently has a market share of 80 percent for 2.5mm and below small pitch displays, according to a recent report by Everbright Securities. 

LED lighting remains the largest market for sapphire application. LED has become a huge competitor for traditional lighting despite of higher costs. High prices, however, are a temporary problem. At-Vac believes that continual advancement of epitaxial wafer technology and LED lighting equipment’s current price fall trend will help lower retail prices. 

Philips, the global leader in lighting, has once again revolutionized the 60-watt LED equivalent bulb by introducing SlimStyle, a brand new shape that offers the high quality, omni-directional light of an incandescent, while eliminating the bulky heat sink commonly found on current LED offerings. The new value-priced 60-watt bulb is now available for purchase in store at The Home Depot, a partner in innovation, for just US$ 9.97.

Lextar Electronics Corp. (“Lextar” or the “Company) reported consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013 of NT$ 3.32 billion (US$ 110 million) Consolidated gross margin was 10.1 percent, net profit for 4Q 2013 was NT$ 33 million. Consolidated revenue for full-year 2013 was NT$ 13.75 billion on year. Consolidated gross margin was 12.7 percent. Full-year net profit was NT$ 948 million. Earnings per share were NT$ 1.25.

U.S. cities are overhauling old lighting systems with energy efficient LED streetlights, as the energy efficient lights are much brighter than conventional lights, energy efficient and provide higher cost-saving capacity. However, blue-rich LED lights can disrupt the circardian rhythm of humans, animals, and even plants according to an article by Earth Island Journal.

European design team Utope has recently kicked off a fundraising project on Indiegogo for its smart LED cycling jacket Sporty Supaheroe Jacket 01 and other LED embedded accessories. The bright LED lights adds night time visibility for cyclists.

Designers at the production studio Fiction have designed a Close Encounters of the Third Kind inspired UFO with LED lights. Fiction designers attached LED strips to a DJI Phantom drone. They then shot photos with long exposure to capture streams of light as the drone flew by. In addition to a little Photoshop editing, the pictures create the eerie illusion of an alien spacecraft shooting across the sky. 

Pictures have been leaked recently for the HTC One M8 which will be available later this month. More pictures have emerge this week showing a unique LED application to the phone’s design. 

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Value Lighting Inc. and certain affiliates (“Value Lighting”), a supplier of lighting solutions to the multifamily residential housing sector and new construction marketplace across the U.S.

Widely used in the manufacture of disposable medical devices, Master Bond LED403Med is a single component system that passes the plastics test for USP Class VI and ISO 10993-5 cytotoxicity requirements. This medical grade system withstands sterilization methods such as gamma radiation, EtO and various chemical sterilants.

The gradually maturing LED industry is also driving up light measurement demands. Taiwanese manufacturer UPRtek released its first popular portable spectrometer MK35ON in 2012. The company followed up on this success with the launch of a newer and more professional spectrometer, the MK350S Advanced in late 2013. 

Philips Hue has officially entered the Chinese market. Philips announced the arrival of Hue during an event at Shanghai Xintiandi on March 7th. It will be available for purchase at Apple Stores around China and online. 

Epistar’s February 2014 revenue outperformed initial estimations, according to Morgan Stanley. Growing lighting demands drove up revenue and operating margin. Client orders in 2Q14 exceeded the company’s production capacity, which will be beneficial in improving its product portfolio and increasing product’s Average Selling Price (ASP). 

Corning Glass Senior Vice President Tony Tripeny had some not so nice words to say about sapphire during a Q&A session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 4. The company blasted the material in defense of their Gorilla Glass. 

Rise in lighting demands are driving up global LED market sales. Philips Electronics (Thailand) anticipate substantial growth in sales for the lighting sector this year. 

Drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists in Shoreline have safer roads at night, now that Seattle City Light has completed the conversion of streetlights on arterial roads to energy efficient LED technology.

Oji Holdings Corporation has established the fabrication technology of patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) for LEDs which improves the performance of front luminance of LEDs by more than double compared to that of LEDs with non-structured sapphire substrate, by applying the technique of precise coating with fine particles.

The SnapRays Guidelight by SnapPower offers an easier and more convenient solution to illuminating your house after dark without compromising outlet space. 

The Re:Lit project isn’t just about picking up the phone, it is about developing working relationships and seeing what happens. Architainment have a great support network which front a huge range of lighting. It’s also great to go and see how people operate and be able to talk openly with manufacturers, rather than rush everything into a demo session or short lunch break. 

FZLED, maker of high-performance LED lighting products, is exhibiting at Taiwan International Lighting Show 2014 (TILS 2014), from March 20 through March 24 at TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall. FZLED will introduce its latest products and energy-saving LED lighting solution in TILS. Global Buyers, media, and the general public are all welcome to visit FZLED’s booth (Booth #J0504).

HeadlightsQuick announced that it has successfully released two new lines of concept headlight styles, which includes Bi‑Xenon HID products and HID Projectors for use on show cars and for modifying various off‑road vehicles. The new TeXenon product line, which includes H1 and D2S projectors, features virtually universal application.

Sumitomo Chemical will exhibit its polymer OLED lighting at “Light+Building 2014,” one of the world’s largest trade fairs for lighting and building technology, to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, from March 30 to April 4, 2014.

LumaStream announced the release of new intelligent, low-voltage, LED lighting systems with unprecedented efficiency and light quality for retail and restaurant lighting applications. Combining LumaStream’s strength in low-voltage LED solutions for restaurant chains with ELPRO’s proven success serving retail brands, the two companies will be jointly exhibiting at the upcoming SPECS 2014 annual conference and exhibition, March 9-12 in Dallas.

Panasonic Corporation announced that it has developed the "Space Player(TM)", a new type of lighting equipment combining the functions of traditional lighting and video projectors to create new options and ideas in spatial lighting for the ambient lighting market. The Space Player will go on sale in Japan from July 1, 2014.

The DOE has released two new reports this week on the LED MR16 lamps and retail lamps. In the sapphire field, diversified sapphire substrate applications continue to contribute to sapphire manufacturer profits, while China’s MOCVD market is still to prove itself internationally. Epistar deal with Philips last week gives it an edge in Taiwan’s patent market. For more info please see below:

“Technology is the future” was Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s slogan during an interview with local media Mingpao.com this week. He urged the special administrative region to focus more attention on innovative technology as it will become the driving force for the economy and alleviate poverty. For Li, the first step towards changing the world is as simple as switching to LEDs.