CRS Electronics Inc. ("CRS" or the "Company"), a developer and manufacturer of LED lighting products, today announced they have selected Cree to provide the LEDs for their new QuantumLED commercial lamp (bulb) brand. QuantumLED lamps will feature Cree's latest XP-G2 LED technology.

Financial research institute Zacks Equity Research recently picked Cree as Bear of the Day—a label used to define companies that financially have not been performing too well. In July, Cree had topped the financial company’s list as one of the most promising companies. Below is Zacks analysis of the company’s financial situation:

Pixelstick takes light painting to a whole new level.

ANTENNA REVEAL: As a special surprise and gift to New York City and the world, Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. has installed for the first time lights to the Empire State Building's antenna—the highest structure on the building.  These custom LED lights can be seen for miles in every direction. On Halloween night, the antenna LEDs will be unveiled for the first-time ever, and will become part of the Empire State Building's light shows and iconic tower lightings, further enhancing and redefining the New York City skyline. 

Evolucia Inc., a global LED lighting solutions company, today announced that its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President (EVP), Charles Rockwood, has resigned from the Company for personal reasons.

On October 29th, French OLED lighting company BLACKBODY opened its New York City showroom in SoHo, making remarkable new OLED technology accessible to American architects and the interior design communities. 

Royal Philips has developed a media enabled luminous ceiling to simulate energizing daylight to comfort critically ill patients. The LED based ceiling has been introduced into clinical use by the Charité Campus Virchow Clinic in Berlin as part of a unique stress-reducing concept called “Parametric Spatial Design”. Hospital staff can enter the desired parameters and the large, sky like area which creates visuals and light moods customized to the situation of individual patients, enabled by software from ART+COM. The Clinic has implemented the concept in two of its intensive care patient rooms to enhance the healing environment for patients who are severely ill.

LED manufacturers that attended the forum explore and analyze advanced LED technology from the perspective of upstream material, equipment, and epitaxy market to give attendees understanding over latest industry and commercial challenges. 

After Chinese researchers successfully connected four computers to the internet through the use of a LED bulb with broadband speeds of 150Mbps, UK researchers have gone a step further, saying they have achieved high data transferring speeds of 10Gbit/s via “li-fi.”

     The LED industry is shifting. With competition increasing, falling prices, and continued developing in technology, LEDs are quickly surpassing incandescent and other forms of lighting, securing a stronghold in the industry. Among the many manufacturers in the lighting industry rushing to secure a position for themselves, MLS Lighting is one that has come out on top this year.

OLED TVs voluptuous curves and high image quality is failing to entice consumers, mainly due to its high price tag. Even the cheapest 55” OLED TV on the market released by Samsung still costs nearly US$ 9,000. But buyers after vibrant colors and HD image should not be discouraged as quantum dot technology might help drive down Ultra High Definition (UHD) LCD TV costs.

  The LED market is growing with LED lighting applications expanding. LED lighting has grown from 22 percent in 2012 to 26 percent in 2013, according to Kuo, and is expected to grow further in 2014 to 30 percent. The market has benefited a lot by the introduction into smartphones by companies such as Samsung and LG. Smartphone applications surpassed feature phones in 2Q13 and have continued to dominate.

The LED industry’s fierce price competition is putting manufacturers under increasing pressure to cut costs. To stand out from the crowd, Russia based manufacturer Monocrystal has sought alternative sapphire substrate market applications other than LEDs, such as smartphone markets. Mikhail Berest, Senior VP Global Sales Director, Monocrystal sheds light on the company’s sapphire substrate technology that has enabled these high end applications at day one of LEDforum Taipei 2013 that took place at Evergreen International Convention Center on Oct. 16-17, 2013.

Korean electronics manufacturer LG Display is rumored to become one of Apple iWatch’s OLED suppliers, according to a report by the Korean Herald. The report noted Apple has a tendency of diversifying its supply chain, and Taiwan’s RiTDisplay is a strong OLED candidate. The OLED supply chain is likely to be led by RiTDisplay with LG Display as the secondary Apple OLED supplier. 

Panasonic recently decided to slash 7,000 jobs in the semiconductor business to boost earnings in fiscal 2014 due to rising competition from Asian manufacturers and eroding sales. However, this has not deterred the financially ailing company from donating 100,000 solar LED lamps to people in areas with limited access to electricity.

Rubicon Technology, Inc.yesterday reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Rubicon announced the launch of the first commercial line of large diameter patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) in four-inch through eight-inch diameters. This new product line provides LED chip manufacturers with a ready-made source of large diameter PSS to serve the needs of the rapidly growing LED general lighting industry.

Light meets high performance design, with the launch of Hubbell Industrial Lighting's LunaBay Series LED Highbay. The new fixture delivers an exceptional combination of low glare light, energy efficiency, and long life to attractively light retail spaces, schools and light industrial facilities.

Korean designer Lee Myung Su first released his SEIL Bag, a LED bag for bikers in 2010. The company is now trying to take the product into the mass production phase with its Kickstarter project. 

The LUXEON TX LED combines the highest luminous flux with extreme efficacy-- a feature mix formerly reserved for premium luminaires Today Philips Lumileds introduces LUXEON TX emitters, which deliver high luminous flux and maximum efficacy for a variety of directional and omnidirectional lighting applications. “These emitters are truly transformative in that they enable customers to achieve performance metrics -- such as a true 50W equivalent MR16 lamp at 2700K that meets ERP/DIM2 requirements -- which LEDs simply could not meet previously,&rdquo...

In LEDforum 2013, CN Sun, Principal of GUANG Lighting Design, had a speech on "LED Lighting in Hotels and Grand Residences". In the presentation, he mentioned an important idea -- awareness of light, and pointed out the benefits of control system. Previous article: Think With the Right Brain – Interview with CN Sun, Alexander in LEDforum2013 (1/2)

The world’s second largest lighting expo, the 15th edition Hong Kong International Lighting Fair which runs from Oct. 27-30 this year, successfully kicked off at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Sunday. The fair broke another all time high record by attracting 2,360 manufacturers from more than 38 countries and regions to attend. This exhibition emphasized on the innovative application instead of lighting technology so visitors did have a tour of fancy lighting fixtures.

Chinese LED manufacturer Elec-Tech released their 3Q financial report on October 29th, 2013.

The world’s second largest lighting expo, the 15th edition Hong Kong International Lighting Fair which runs from Oct. 27-30, 2013 this year successfully kicked off at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Sunday. The fair broke another all time high record by attracting 2,360 manufacturers from more than 38 countries and regions to attend the show.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Laster Tech has set its sights on the automotive lighting market as LED technology matures in this particular field. The company has settled most production order for 2014 and have recently announced the increase in funds in its Shanghai factory to meet capital turnover demands from soaring 2014 shipment orders.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published a new report, Color Maintenance of LEDs in Laboratory and Field Applications. Although concern for parametric failure of LED lighting products has largely been focused on lumen maintenance, color shift is a cause of early failure for some products, especially in applications where visual appearance is critical.

Everlight Electronics CO., LTD. showcases varieties of new series of LED lighting components and fixtures at 2013 Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition). This year, Everlight represents most updating series of high efficient LED lighting packages including High, Mid and Low Power LED and COB LED packages and certification listed including CE, UL or Energy Star LED retrofits and fixtures to show customers the ability of OEM/ODM and the one stop purchasing experience.

Silver Spring Networks, Inc., a leading networking platform and solutions provider for smart energy networks, announced today it has been selected to deliver the networking platform for a citywide intelligent street lights project in Copenhagen, Denmark. Under a new partnership with Citelum, the global leader in lighting, traffic management, and other urban electrical systems, Silver Spring is expected to begin networking 20,000 street lights in Copenhagen in 2014. 

Tridonic recently launched a new laser LED module. The new compact TALEXXengine STARK NEW DLE modules are 80 percent more efficient than their predecessors. A larger light emission surface also leads to a lower luminance and better glare reduction options for downlights. 

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has announced the first devices in its second generation of LETERAS white LEDs fabricated using a gallium nitride-on cilicon (GaN-on-Si) process. The 1W TL1F2 LEDs offer a cost-competitive alternative to current LED packages, allowing manufacturers of general purpose and industrial LED lighting to drive down costs.