Philips and Acuity Brands, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a license agreement allowing Acuity Brands to access Philips’ LED-based patent portfolio. Philips makes its patent portfolio for LED systems and controls available via a licensing program to third parties in order to foster industry growth.  

Samsung has invested USD 1 billion in its LED TV promotion campaign, bringing such TVs in the limelight of the market since the 2Q09. Other major TV brand vendor also raised their LED TV shipment targets for 2010, and launched capacity expansion plans at the same time. According to the research institute LEDinside, the total capital expenditure of Taiwan’s LED chipmakers will reach NTD 13.5 billion in 2009, a 24% growth compared to last year.

Royal Philips Electronics announced it has sponsored “LoveLight” held in October this year at the Royal College of Physicians in central London. This unique event which is initiated by the Professional Lighting Designers’ Association and Emap, is the first of its kind and aims to put lighting at the heart of architecture.

The first Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will takes place on Yaz Island from October 30th to November 1st. Combining world-class luxury and cutting-edge innovation, the Yas Marine Circuit also incorporates solar-LED lighting technology from Carmanah Technologies, provided by Carmanah’s authorized distributor in the Middle East, PTL SOLAR.

Apple® updated its popular MacBook® with a new, durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring a brilliant LED-backlit display, a glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad and Apple’s innovative built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life. Inheriting technology and design features from the MacBook Pro line, the new MacBook is an ideal consumer notebook for students and new Mac® users, and is available for $999.

Cree Inc. Tuesday posted first-quarter earnings and revenue well above market expectations, and forecast strong second-quarter results. The LED lighting manufacturer reported net income of $21 million, or 23 cents per share, on $169.1 million in revenue for its fiscal 2010 first quarter, ended Sept. 27. That's up from net income of $5.9 million, or 7 cents per share, on $140.4 million in revenue in the same period a year ago.

AIXTRON AG today announced the delivery and qualification of multiple CRIUS MOCVD systems at Neo-Neon, a major customer in PR China. Neo-Neon is one of the largest LED-based lighting companies in the world. Since 2005, the company began the R&D and production of white lighting technology their vertically-integrated approach resulting in a complete supply chain from front-end (epitaxy, chip process) to back-end (LED packaging and application).

Cree, Inc. extends its lighting-class LED leadership into PLCC LEDs with the commercial availability of the new XLamp® MX-6 LED. The MX-6 LED offers the performance and reliability that customers expect from Cree XLamp LEDs with enhanced light uniformity and low power consumption.

Recently, Japan’s PanaHome Corp and Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd demonstrated a model house that use LEDs as the major lighting source in Tokyo.

The world’s first and only OLED lighting design conference is scheduled to take place in Boston (December 2-3) this year. Over 100 lighting design professionals are expected to attend the conference.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors announced it has developed new transparent OLED prototypes which are only a few hundred micrometers thick and do not need separate encapsulation. The samples have a luminous area of 210 cm² and are already showing the enormous potential of OLED light sources.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the ENERGY STAR® qualification to Renaissance Lighting Inc. on seven more of its newest 4-inch all-white solid-state LED downlight fixtures. Earlier this month, 11 of the company’s all-white 7-inch downlights became the first to receive the coveted ENERGY STAR qualification.

Linear Technology announces the LT3743, a synchronous step-down DC/DC converter designed to deliver constant current to drive high current LEDs. The device’s 5.5V to 36V input voltage range makes it ideal for a wide variety of applications, including industrial, DLP projection and architectural lighting.

If the results of a new consumer opinion survey translate into consumer action, then pre-lit LED Christmas trees could be the hit of the season.

The launch of 8” wafer level silicon-based LED package technology by VisEra Technologies Company is regarded industry wide as the latest breakthrough of high power LED package. Apart from innovative technologies, VisEra also stands at the center of attention due to TSMC’s sub-investment therein.

Semtech Corp., a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, today announced the SC654, SC657 and SC658LED backlight charge pump drivers for 6, 5, and 4 LEDs, respectively. Optimized for single-cell Li-ion battery applications, each part in this new platform is packaged in ultra-thin (0.6mm max.) 14-pin 2x2mm MLPQ package to provide the industry’s smallest solution in reliable and easy-to-handle plastic packaging.

Philips Lumileds announced today that it is the first power LED manufacturer to publicly publish LM-80 test report data for use by luminaire manufacturers evaluating the merits of using different LEDs in their solid-state lighting solutions. The data clearly demonstrates that lumen maintenance performance exceeds ENERGY STAR® requirements by a wide margin as well as documenting lumen maintenance performance under various conditions. The test report is posted on the company’s web site www.philipslumileds.com.

Nuventix, Inc., innovator of SynJet active thermal management solutions, today announced the general availability of the next generation of the SynJet Universal DLM Cooler for the Philips Fortimo LED Downlight Module (DLM). The introduction of the 120mm compact SynJet cooler announcement caps a successful 2009 for Nuventix by delivering the smallest thermal solution available for the Philips Fortimo DLM.

Prof. Hwung-Hweng Hwung, the Senior Executive Vice President of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) - Taiwan, on behalf of NCKU, signed a joint venture agreement with a privately owned Taiwan Nitride Material Inc. led by its chairman Mr. H.H. Chang, for the production of aluminum nitride (AlN). Both parties agreed to invest a total of NT$ 30 million (US$ 932,000) for research and development of AlN, a semiconductor material widely used for heat radiation and insulation in microelectronics and optoelectronics.

This articles is contributed by WitsView, an abstract from WitsView’s column, please go to //www.witsview.com/Intelligence/Column/Default.aspx for the original version.

Visualization specialist Barco announced that its new LED-lit rear-projection video walls are now available for sales. The OL series of video walls presents significant quality improvements over the current state of the art in LED projection.

e:cue lighting control - an OSRAM Company - benefits from the cross licensing agreement concluded between OSRAM and Philips for LED-based technology. e:cue lighting control guarantees its customers who integrate e:cue lighting control products in luminaires (e.g.

ANC Sports Enterprises announced new courtside signage and marketing agreements with four National Basketball Association teams for the 2009-10 season. The New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats become the two newest teams to feature ANC Sports’ courtside signage, while the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder extended their existing partnerships and upgraded from traditional rotational signage to the DLP® Digital Courtside Signage System.

AECOM and Royal Philips Electronics have designed a ground breaking LED lighting solution for London’s world famous Natural History Museum. Replacing the aging floodlight system, Philips state-of-the-art ColorReach™ Powercore technology demonstrates the flexibility and unprecedented light output of LED exterior floodlighting for signature façades today.

Barnard Castle in County Durham, England will once more be illuminated when installation is completed on a new LED floodlighting scheme brought about by Barnard Castle Vision and Barnard Castle Town Council in partnership with English Heritage and Durham County Council.

Nuventix, Inc., innovator of SynJet active thermal management solutions, and Bias Power, Inc., manufacturer of patented low power AC-DC power supplies, jointly announce the introduction of SynPower series power supplies. SynPower is the standard power supply solution for SynJet in LED luminaires. This high efficiency power and cooling product combination speeds time to market of new LED designs by providing the SynJet active cooling solution and power-matched power source in a compact package.

Delivering an innovative platform for unprecedented flexibility, sustainability and energy efficiency in commercial buildings, the EMerge Alliance recently announced the release of the EMerge Alliance Standard, the first roadmap for the utilization of safe, low-voltage directcurrent (DC) power in commercial interiors.   The new industry standard allows buildings of today to adapt to the needs of tomorrow by defining critical physical and electrical requirements that help achieve the following goals:

The Marvel Food and Deli which opened its doors early in June 2009, is the first commercial new construction in the U.S. to be outfitted exclusively with LEDs (light-emitting diodes). The 16,000 square foot supermarket and deli is situated on a 43,000 square foot lot and utilized LED's for both interior and exterior lighting.

A celebration was held last night for the re-lighting of the Brooker Gallery at the Chicago Field Museum featuring Lighting Services Inc’s LumeLEX™ LED fixtures utilizing Xicato LED technology. The reception was attended by industry professionals including Architects, Engineers, Lighting Designers, Government Officials and the Press. The gallery displayed entries to the Burnham Memorial Design Competition which proposed a public memorial to famed Architect Daniel H. Burnham and the Plan of Chicago.

The U.S. Department of Energy has published the summary report from the 2009 DOE Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Manufacturing Workshops, held April 21–22 in Fairfax, Virginia, and June 24–25 in Vancouver, Washington. Download a PDF copy of the report.