Ruud Lighting has laid off about 50 of its nearly 600 employees. Company President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Ruud says the collapse of the construction industry forced the actions. He says the company is restructuring and the layoffs are considered permanent. The privately owned Ruud Lighting, 9201 Highway 20, makes lighting fixtures for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential settings. The dearth of construction work during the recession has sapped sales, Ruud says.

The Rs 220-crore Usha Shriram Ltd, plans to enter the LED lighting products segment. It proposes to import such lighting products from Europe and market them under its own brandname. Usha Shriram's mission is to position its LED portfolio in the consumer segment and launch them at more compelling rates than the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) range. LED lighting products are more energy efficient than CFL items.

It’s reported that French Center for Building Science and Technology (CSTB), major French academic lighting laboratories and the French branch of Philips Lighting has formed a R&D program to research and promote the optimal use of LEDs in buildings.  

South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. is reportedly setting up a 50-50 joint venture with its affiliate Samsung Electro-Mechanics to jointly produce LEDs. It’s disclosed the veture is tentatively named Samsung LED. LEDs are known to have many advantages to traditional light sources, such as low energy consumption, longer lifetime, which are increasingly used in products from mobile phones to flat-screen televisions.

Recently, the Clinton Foundation has announced the Outdoor Lighting Program of the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is working with Los Angeles on the largest LED street lighting retrofit project over the next five years. In all, 140,000 LED streetlight fixtures will be installed throughout the city. That not only will improve L.A.'s lighting quality and reduce its electricity use, but also will help the city to save money in the process.

ROAL Electronics announces its TROPO Series is a family of LED drivers designed specifically for powering LEDs in new and retrofit lighting applications. These drivers operate directly from the AC line and provide an isolated, low voltage constant current DC output. Wide range (10%-100%) dimming is possible with standard incandescent dimmers (triac based, standard phase – leading edge) and electronic low voltage dimmers (reverse phase – trailing edge).

ETC has announced their acquisition of the Selador™ product line from Selador co-founders Rob Gerlach and Novella Smith. That means ETC would enter the LED market.

PerkinElmer Inc., announces that it will showcase its latest range of LED solutions at Strategies in Light 2009 (SIL) from February 18-20 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California, USA.

AIXTRON AG has received a triple order for MOCVD tools from a new Chinese manufacturer of LEDs Tonghui Electronics Corp. The order is for a AIX 2800G4 HT IC Planetary Reactor system, AIXTRON’s flagship reactor for large-scale manufacturing of LEDs and other advanced devices, and two AIX 2600G3 IC systems.

It’s reported that Hyundai reinvented itself, and will further the process with a new SUV concept at the Geneva auto show. This new concept, dubbed the HED-6, following a naming scheme based on previous Hyundai concepts, is described in the press release as an "urban nomad," and is supposed to have picked up influences from Berlin, London, and Paris.

TT electronics OPTEK Technology has developed a family of ultraviolet LEDs in the UV-A spectrum. The OUE8A Series offer an energy-efficient hermetic TO-46 metal can packaged UV LED source providing a uniform optical light pattern, high current pulse capability, ESD protection and a long operating lifespan.

1.Introduction  

For indoor plants, winter is a harsh time. Pop Sci has introduced the LED grow lights to keep houseplants thriving during the short days of winter. Using specialty grow lights can give your air-boosting indoor plants the right light and temperature, or you can build your own long-lasting, nifty-looking LED light spikes.

Royal Philips Electronics announces that it will launch a new solar-powered reading light in autumn 2009. The company says the LED light enables people to both read and write after dark. It’s disclosed that Philips’s “My Reading Light” was developed specifically for the education sector in Africa and will allow school children to continue with their homework after sunset.

Toshin Electric Co Ltd has launched the "Bikei," an LED tube lamp which can replace 40W straight tube fluorescent lamps. The company enhanced the heat radiation efficiency of the Bikei by forming aluminum radiator fins on part of its tube. Also, it downsized the substrate on which LEDs are mounted and minimized the shadow made by the substrate so that light reaches farther.

LED EXPO 2009 will be on May 20-23, 2009 in Korea.

Recently, ITC Inc., a leading accessory manufacturer to the RV industry, announces that it is teaming up with Dynamax Corporation, a leading OEM of luxury motor coaches, to replace traditional halogen overhead lighting with high output LED technology. ITC’s LED lighting requires much lower amp draw, saving both energy and money. LED lights also contain no mercury.

Recently, Sylvania has introduced a new LED Showerhead. The Ecolight offers a little extra light in the shower, it attaches to just about any standard showerhead and it features a LED light that is powered by the running water—so you never need to deal with batteries. It also features an LED temperature ring that turns blue when the temperature is under 78 degrees Fahrenheit and red when it is above 105.8 degrees. So, your protection here is three-fold: psycho attack, shrinkage and burns. The LED Showerhead is priced at $40.

Seoul Semiconductor has announced to replace outdoor lightings of a Senator business center with exclusive solid state light, Acriche. The project has been completed by a Russian lighting expert company Vitrulux Oy.

Elation Professional has introduced its Design Panel 72IP MKII outdoor LED color. A high-output DMX-compatible RGB-mixing LED panel, the Design Panel 72IP MKII is rated at IP 65, allowing it to withstand rain and dust, making it ideal for adding changing colors to building exteriors, landscaping, outdoor concerts, or any application subject to Mother Nature’s whims.

RECOM Power, Inc. announces its Constant Current LED-Driver is now available with flying wires. This is No.1 Constant Current LED-Driver module that no knowledge of electronics is needed, just connect the wires and light it up! That means plug and play. The company says this package style is ideal for applications with an overcrowded board or applications without a board.

LASER EXPO 2009 will be on 22-24 April 2009 in Japan.

Osram Opto Semiconductors has announced its first thermal models for computing different LED designs available online. OSRAM has demonstrated it is high level of customer support. In addition to electrical, mechanical and optical data, a compact model for Flotherm software is now permanently available at www.Osram-os.com/thermal-files for calculating thermal behavior.

Arrow Electronics, Inc. of Melville, New York USA, and Texas Instruments (TI) announce a new series of Analog eLab videocasts on solid-state lighting (SSL). Partnering with Cree, Inc., Arrow and TI will present six new videocasts that share expertise on developing driver solutions for several LED applications.

DOMAG LED TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD of Taiwan, concentrates on designing, invention developing all LED new applications, especially focus in illumination propose, will launch one new products that Par 38 10W LED Lamp in this week. The light distribute very even and tender. Very similar then conventions light spread, since it's only one piece 10W LED source. These products are made in Taiwan. The company insures to provide best quality and service.

Carmanah, a maker of solar powered LED lighting based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada announces that it has sold its Road Signs business to Temple Inc. of Decatur, Alabama. Two companies have signed the definitive agreement.

It’s reported that OSRAM Opto Semiconductors’s Golden DRAGON LEDs are lighting up a major thoroughfare of Jing Jiang City in the Jiangsu province of China. The 180W prototype LED streetlights were installed by Jiangsu Hua Jing Photoelectronics for replacing traditional 250W HID lamps.

LIGHTING JAPAN (1st LED/OLED Lighting Technology EXPO) will be on April 15 - 17 , 2009 in Japan.

It’s reported that Pittsburgh is considering the replacement of its 40,000 street lights with LED fixtures. It is estimated that it could save up to upwards of $1.4 million a year in energy and maintenance costs, and “look nicer.”

Recently, AIXTRON AG announced an order received in the second quarter 2008 for an MOCVD system from a new customer, Yangzhou Zhongke Semiconductor Lighting Center Co. Ltd. The Close Coupled Showerhead CRIUS system with 31x2" wafer configuration was delivered to Yangzhou Zhongke’s state of the art facility in the Yangzhou High-Tech Venture Services Center, PR China in the fourth quarter 2008. Its application will be for the development and volume production of UHB blue/green LEDs.