Energy Focus, Inc. announced yesterday that it has been selected to receive a $1.4 million contract by the Naval Research Warfare Center to develop and produce solid state lighting fixtures for use specifically on Virginia Class attack submarines. The new fixtures will replace single, double and triple tube fluorescent water tight fixtures now in use as well as provide solid state replacements for existing fluorescent based berth lights.

To leverage the efforts of multiple cities pursuing evaluations of LED street lighting products, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the formation of a Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium. The Consortium will collect, analyze, and share technical information and experiences related to LED street lighting demonstrations.  

The new TOPLED Black Series with lens from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors is the first TOPLED in a black package that can achieve a typical luminous intensity of 1.9 cd (at 20 mA), which means it is as bright as a comparable LED in a white package but offers higher contrast and fewer reflections.      

LG Innotek Co Ltd, an electronic component branch of LG Electronics, is planning to aggressively increase its investment in the blooming LED business and may require outside funding, the Reuters reports, citing senior executives of the company.

LED technology is making it easier than ever for those health and eco-conscious consumers to keep growing their favorite plants year-round indoors. LED-Grow-Lights.com offers several LED Grow Light products capable of keeping indoor plants warm and well-lit for favorable growth conditions.

The National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed a joint agreement “Green Lights Project” to promote the use of energy-saving lamps (ESLs) in China. China has announced that it plans to gradually phase out incandescent lamps in three years. As a majority of LED chips in China are acquired from Taiwan, this project will certainly serve Taiwan LED chip makers a long-term order on a silver platter.

Carmanah Technologies (TSX: CMH) yesterday introduced its new M650 solar-LED marine lantern. The new product features an on-board programmable interface, USB connection, replaceable battery pack as well as intelligent deployment capability, and provides four nautical miles of visibility. The M650 solar-LED marine lantern is designed for lighting ports, harbours and marinas; marking obstructions and nautical hazards; or illuminating aids to navigation in all types of environments.

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) recently announced that it had developed a new structure for its organic electroluminescent (organic EL) devices achieving approximately 40% in light output, which represents the highest level in the world.           

A massive exterior lighting installation built with 75,000 red LUXEON® LEDs is raising the visibility of CentralPlaza ChaengWattana, a seven-story, 300-store shopping complex in Bangkok.

OPTIS France SAS, the developer of scientific light simulation and visualization software, today announces the opening of a wholly owned subsidiary in Shanghai, China. This new facility will deliver expert technical and sales support and a wide range of training courses for Chinese customers and is conveniently located close to key customers in China’s automotive, aerospace/defense and electronics industries.

GlacialTech Inc. has recently launched the cool white and warm white environmentally friendly LED spotlight series. The 10W GL-Spotlight (7W)LED high brightness spotlights directly replace mercury lamps with a lifespan of 20,000Hrs, comparing with 3000hrs for standard Mercury lamps. And the predicted power savings rate is 87%.

AU Optronics, (AUO 2409.tw) invested some NT 2.5 billion in the LED chip equipment expansion of Lextar, and pre-ordered 15 MOCVD systems this year. AUO Vice Chairman and Lexstar Chairman H.B. Chen indicated that Lextar’s plant construction has completed, and is now on course for equipment setup. Chen emphasized that Lexstar will become the primary supplier of AUO’s LED chips, supplying over 50% of its demand.

China can act as a model for developing countries and the wider world by investing in environmentally friendly growth and prioritizing the creation of cleaner energy, Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations said recently, urging the leaders of the planet’s most populous nation to “serve as the vanguard of tomorrow’s economy", according to a report on the UN News Centre website. Chinese government this year has launched in Beijing a new energy-sav

Researchers with Philips Lumileds have developed a monochromatic nitride diode that closes the yellow light-emitting diode (LED) gap. The phosphor-converted (PC) amber LED demonstrated by Regina Mueller-Mach and her colleagues uses the down-conversion of blue light from an indium-gallium-nitride (InGaN) LED to longer-wavelength light by a phosphor, in a variation of a well-established process for producing cold or warm white light from blue LED light.

Leadis Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: LDIS), an analog and mixed-signal semiconductor developer of LED driver products for consumer electronics devices, today announced results for the second quarter of 2009, ended June 30, 2009. Q2 2009 Highlights --  Leadis divested of its Touch sensor product assets for $6.25 million. Leadis is now focused solely on the design, development and marketing of LED drivers and controllers. --  Leadis achieved 5 new LED driver design wins in the quarter.

Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) today announced that its white LED (Light-Emitting Diode) driver, the HA7305, has been approved by TFT-LCD panel makers for use in netbook and notebook applications and is expected to commence mass production at around the end of third quarter 2009.

Nanosys, Inc. today announced it has agreed to settlement terms of a patent infringement lawsuit against Nanoco Technologies Ltd. The lawsuit claimed that the United Kingdom firm's quantum dot technology infringes upon five seminal quantum dot patents held by Nanosys. In the settlement, Nanoco agreed to terminate its current U.S. business for its core-shell quantum dots. Those quantum dots were sold in the U.S. by its U.S. distributor, Sigma-Aldrich under the name Lumidots.

e:cue lighting control – An OSRAM Company, introduces light-drive elite, its first standalone DMX controller and user interface for dynamic RGB LED lighting that does not require software programming. Users can easily control intensity, color, and speed as well as setup their favorite color-changing effects through light-drive elite’s glass interface with touch-sensitive keys and touch wheel.

DOMINANT Semiconductors has recently released its new series product, K Nova 3W AlInGaP. The new product measures just 7.2 mm x 7.2 mm in size while provides an impressive brightness of typical 90lm at 700mA, according to the company. This LED is designed for exterior automotive lighting, general lighting and signage.

The solid state lighting joint venture project between Hebei provincial government and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation’s No. 13 research institute has officially begun its production. This project is located in the Information Technology Center in Shinjiazhuang City, Hebei Province. The investment totaled RMB390 million, and covers an area of 60 acres, and is the largest industrialized solid state lighting project in Northern China.

Hague Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary Solterra Renewable Technologies announced an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the University of Arizona for the patented, intellectual property covering screen-printing techniques for the fabrication of organic light emitting diodes.

Samsung, the Korean electronic giant, is reportedly to be in talks with Sony to supply LED-backlit panels for TVs, according to an article on the Seoul Economic Daily, a Korean-language newspaper. Samsung may supply LED panels measuring 40 inches, 46 inches and 55 inches for Sony’s LED TVs, while it currently has no plan to supply LED-related chips to any of its competitors, according to the report.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) will host the 4th npower Ashes Test starting on 7th August 2009. All the hard-fought action will be replayed on Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground’s new giant 102m2 digiLED Ld10S screen. The 16m (w) x 6.4m (h) screen replaces the previous scoreboard and is the largest LED video display in a UK sports venue.

Lutron's Vierti dimmer has won a Red Dot Design Award, a prestigious international competition that honors high quality and innovative design.

The 20th annual LIGHTFAIR® International (LFI), the world's largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference, ended with record-breaking attendee registrations of 23,416 industry professionals and conference participants. Celebrating two decades of lighting excellence in New York, LFI 2009 offered the most robust trade show and conference in its 20-year history.  LFI 2009 increased attendance by 8.5% and exhibit booths by 6% from LFI 2007 in New York.

Dialight Corporation is set to introduce its first LED high bay luminaire which has been designed exclusively to replace conventional high bay lighting solutions in interior and exterior industrial, commercial and hazardous location applications.

Taiwan’s leading panel vendor AU Optronics plans to fully-adopt LED backlight for all NB panels shipped before the end of 2010; penetration of LED backlight in its internal monitor shipments is expected to reach 10 ~ 15%. In 2010, the estimated global LED TV penetration may hit 10%. Dr L.J. Chen, CEO of AUO, indicated that as a result of strong demand for LED panels, tighter supply of LED chips is expected in 2010.

Samsung has recently released the LED based SyncMaster XL2370 monitor in Korea. It's a 23” monitor with a Full HD resolution, Samsung’s TOC or Touch Of Color, a stunning 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a 2ms response time. The Samsung XL2370 is Samsung’s highest performance display and the first to incorporate LED technology, giving the model a super-slim profile and significant energy-saving benefits.

Samsung Electronics on July 24 posted an impressive set of its second quarter earnings. For the three months through June, operating profits were just over $2 billion, a fivefold increase on the first quarter and up 5% from a year earlier. The total revenue was $26 billion, up 13.4% from the first quarter and 11.7% from the same period last year.

Blinx has introduced new sound responsive LED earphones, reports Ubergizmo. The earphones are equipped with a control box which enables the LED to pulse according to the tune of the music being played. Each of these earphones and the central control box includes three blue LED lights. These earphones are compatible with any device housing a standard 3.5mm jack. Apparently, the earphones are powered by two ZA13HP batteries. The Blinx earphones are also said to bundle up foam earbud protectors and instruction leaflet.