LED lighting developer ilumisys Inc. is to partner with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) to develop environmentally sustainable solid-state lighting on a $590,000 grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

The iHome iH15 LED speaker has a boxy, modern design. As simple as it looks, there is no radio, no GSM-shielding for iPhone, no alarm, no remote, and the brilliant design is in the color-changing: you can customize your favorite color or set it to run through a “rainbow” of seven colors. With the LED lights on, you’ll find the $59.99 cube really cute! Perfect for parties and fun occasions.

After Taiwan’s major computer provider Acer recently heightening the proportion of LED-backlit Notebooks, Asus, another major maker in the industry, announced that it would also boost the proportion of its LED-backlit Notebooks, and estimates to use LCD panels with LED backlight in all Notebook computer products by the end of 2009, including high-end ultra-thin Notebook, middle- and low-end Notebooks.

Inlustra Technologies, a US-based startup spun out from the world-renowned gallium nitride research laboratories at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has now developed a scalable production process for nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates. The company is expanding its production facilities and has recently started to fill orders from customers. 

Opto Diode Corporation, a US-based manufacturer of LEDs, has recently developed a new 60 Die LED array product line.

Mouser Electronics,  Inc., an electronic component distributor known for its rapid introduction of the newest products, announced on Tuesday to have signed an agreement with OSRAM Opto Semiconductors to distribute the lighting, sensor, and visualization sectors, adding to its existing portfolio of OSRAM’s high-powered, mid-powered, and standard LEDs as well as infrared and sensor products.

Seoul Semiconductor, a leading LED maker of Korean, has signed an agreement to license its UV patent for a portable fluorescent forgery detector. Portable fluorescent forgery detectors are mainly applied in identification of forgeries of bank notes, securities, passports, gift coupons, and ID cards by commercial banks, financial companies and small businesses that mainly transact securities. As counterfeit money raise concerns around the world, demand of the product is expected to grow substantially.

Neoti, the regional digital signage network in Bluffton, Indiana, has recently introduced its latest product, a 9 foot ×12 foot mobile LED screen that is 8 feet high and is housed and transported in a 20-foot trailer. Nomad, which is the name of the screen, can be taken nearly anywhere in the trailer and is able to display any type of signal from static images to live video at sporting events. It can operate for continuous 28 hours on its own diesel-powered generator.

Taiwan government has got plan to invest in the new energy industry and to develop it into another industry with annual output value exceeding NT$1 trillion, according to the Flagship Plan For The New Energy Industry which is scheduled to be launched by the Cabinet on April 23. Photovoltaic and LED lighting will be stressed as two mainstays in the industry.

Taiwan government is planning to invest NT$50 billion (US$1.48 billion) to the adoption of devices powered by renewable energy and green industries, including LED, as part of its NT$500 billion public construction program, reported the Chinese-language Economic Daily News yesterday, citing Minister of the Public Construction Commission Fan Liang-shiow.

LED TV market features infinite imagination space but is immature yet, LEDinside estimates the market penetration rate of LED TV to be 2% in 2009 and 11% in 2012

Gardasoft Vision in Cambridge, UK, has acquired the worldwide rights to VCube LED Linelight and Traffic Monitoring lights. The liquid-cooled VLX2 Linelights feature brightness many times higher than that of conventional air-cooled LED linelights. They can be applied in linescan applications such as printing, paper, plastic film, or web inspection up to 4 m wide.

Braemar Energy Ventures has invested in Nuventix Inc., a cooling systems company in Texas, according to the company. Braemar contributed $3 million of the $8 million total that closes out the Series C round for Nuventix. Another $1 million was from Uniquest of Korea and the remaining come from an agreement with Silicon Valley Bank that makes $4 million credit available to the company.

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Advanced Thermal Devices (ATD) Inc. have recently received the safety certifications offered by UL Taiwan. The government-backed ITRI was awarded the certification for an alternate current LED module, while ATD was awarded for an LED streetlight.

Lawson Inc., the convenience store chain said last week that it will use LED lights in its new outlets scheduled to open in June. And it will later consider also replacing the lights in its existing outlets with LEDs. Lawson made the decision after using LED lights in some of its stores for trial. It has found that a store using LEDs for illumination saves 35% electricity than a store using fluorescent lights.

Aiming at the global LED streetlight market, Delta Electronics Inc. of Taiwan has set to strive for contract production orders this year with efforts of all its 27 overseas sales outlets scattering in mainland China, Japan and Europe.

The Orca LEDs from Bivar is featured with the optimum flux and intensity that offers the highest light output among competitors. Orca can be applied to design of vehicle brake lights, decorative interior or exterior lighting, specialty stage lighting, or a multi-colored signage presentation.

This new concept of Novague, the Prague-based design studio, is a power independent rocking chair which can produce power from the chair’s rocking motion to light the LED reading lamp.

Osram Sylvania has opened an expanded, multi-million dollar Clean Lab LED center on April 8 that is dedicated to solid-state lighting research in Beverly, Massachusetts. Osram received $2M award in US DOE Solid State Lighting Research and Development Program last month. And the award will allow the company to fund an LED replacement for a halogen MR-16 spotlight and research on phosphors for white LEDs.

Instrument Systems, a leading global manufacturer of LED Test & Measurement systems has recently developed its ISP 1000 Integrating Sphere which has been specially designed with a diameter of one meter for precise measurement of the total radiant power and luminous flux of lamps. It is particularly suitable for larger and more powerful LED modules with applications in solid-state lighting.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport will have 2,000 incandescent bulbs on a runway replaced with energy-efficient LED lighting, supported by a $4.5 million stimulus grant from The Federal Aviation Administration. A total USD 1.1 billion stimulus grant has been handed out by the Federal Aviation Administration for airport projects. And RDU will use its grant, announced Wednesday, to upgrade lighting on the 10,000-foot runway adjacent to Terminal 2.

How should the signage look like in the airport in heart of Silicon Valley? Jacobs Carter Burgess — the architectural firm overseeing the expansion and renovation of the Mineta San Jose International Airport — has come up with the idea of  a sleek, modern, eco-friendly sign design in a 4” deep sign cabinet—the slimmest double-faced illuminated sign ever produced.

The goals set for solid-state lighting (SSL) development in 2008 by the Department of Energy (DOE) have been met individually, some even been surpassed, but there is not a single product that can meet all of those targets simultaneously, according to a DOE’s latest annual report on SSL research and development. The report has detailed the wide range of work in the US aimed at fundamentally changing the country's lighting infrastructure to one based on LEDs instead of bulbs.

The year 2009 has been expected to be the year of the rapid expanding of LED street light market. At present, the LED street light plans have been launched in batches in many cities in China. In Taiwan, because of the increased budget in domestic demand, such plans have also been released. The U.S. and Europe have also begun to adopt LED street lights in large scales. All these are efforts to replace the traditional street lights and to use solar energy, wind force and other recyclable energy types to aid the street illumination in areas of short electricity supply.

Green Energy LED Light Bar

Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2393) announced the availability of the EHP-B02 3 in 1 Full Color LED in a new surface mount (SMT) package. The EHP-B02 combines the benefits of high power and high efficiency, and each LED has sufficient brightness to replace a lighting fixture consisting of neon lights, CCFL and LED arrays. For LED users, EHP-B02 offers small-size package, high luminous flux and dominant wavelengths.

These wine-glass-shaped stuffs designed by Guido Ooms can light too, with the twenty high intensity LEDs that should last a good 10 years. The 7.5″×2.7″size is exactly that of a standard wine glass, which is about 3″ longer than a normal bulb. For as much as $120, the sophisticated drunk can take this novelty light bulb home and add a touch of class to their home bar.

Nova Scotia, Canada, has launched a pilot project to use energy-efficient LED streetlights replacing the conventional streetlights in several parts of the province, aiming to reduce energy consumption.

Taiwan’s major LED markers have all seen their March revenue surging beyond expectation, with Formosa Epitaxy Inc. taking the lead with a 68.5% rise from February. Epistar Corp. and Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd also post robust revenue records.

The option to have LED lights replacing the streetlights on Main Street, Romeo, Michigan, U.S. has been discussed by the Romeo Downtown Development Authority (DDA). This idea was brought out by Janine Saputo the DDA Coordinator after she looked into light-emitting diode (LED) lights as a energy efficient lighting option when pursuing a downtown revitalization grant opportunity from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).