The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has recently released a free, open-access circadian stimulus (CS) calculator to help lighting professionals select light sources and light levels that will increase the potential for circadian-effective light exposure in architectural spaces, utilizing the CS metric. Developed by LRC researchers, the CS metric is a new way to quantify light’s impact on acute melatonin suppression, a marker of circadian system activation.

LED technologies are rapidly growing in terms of market share for roadway lighting systems in the U.S., with about 15% of roadway lights using LED sources. Unlike the yellowish glow of high pressure sodium lamps found in most of the other U.S. streetlights, LED illumination usually is white in color. This difference has sparked concerns about health and wellbeing from the American Medical Association (AMA).

Since the launch of its Smart Energy Savers Program® in 2009, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) has been educating customers on simple ways to reduce energy use and costs. Today, BGE marks two major milestones. First, BGE customers have bought more than 25 million energy-saving LED and CFL light bulbs, saving nearly $40 million at checkout with instant discounts. Second, BGE has performed 200,000 Quick Home Energy Check-ups in its service area, helping customers better understand their homes’ energy use and suggesting ways to save energy and money.

Analog Devices. (ADI) announced the acquisition of a solid-state laser beam steering technology from Vescent Photonics, Inc., a privately held company based in Golden, Colorado. Vescent’s innovative non-mechanical beam steering technology enables more robust integrated LIDAR1 systems that overcome many of the major drawbacks associated with today’s bulky mechanical offerings such as reliability, size, and cost. This acquisition strengthens ADI’s position as a major automotive safety system technology partner for next generation ADAS and autonomous driving applications and builds on ADI’s 20-year history in advancing automotive safety.

Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic is in talks with Austrian headlight maker ZKW Group, a Bloomberg report quoted person familiar with the matter saying.

Technavio analysts forecast the global automotive adaptive front lighting system market to grow at a CAGR of almost 13% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.

According to Nature World News, more than 18 million people in Japan suffer from hair loss, a figure about three times that of U.S., which led a Japanese company to come up with an innovative idea to regenerate hair growth: red LED helmets.

Xicato, an established manufacturer and thought leader in intelligent, connected light sources, and EnOcean, the global leader in energy harvesting wireless technology, announced out-of-the-box interoperability between the Xicato Intelligent Module, Generation 4 (XIM Gen4) and the EnOcean 2.4 GHz BLE portfolio of battery-free, energy-harvesting switches. Together with complementary sensors soon to be available from Xicato and others, these products create a simple, cost-effective solution for California Title 24 and other building code requirements. This solution will be demonstrated in the EnOcean booth #40464 at the CES show in Las Vegas on Jan. 5-8, 2017.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers that successfully transitioned from blue LEDs to red LEDs have set new revenue records from their budding AlInGaN LED business.

Samsung Electronics is determined to step up its efforts in quantum dot technology by acquiring U.S.-based QD specialist QD Vision, reported The Korea Times.

The slowdown in LED backlight market including smartphone displays continued to trend on into 2016 that even top player in the industry Nichia is looking beyond this particular market sector in its 2017 roadmap.

Boston Electronics Corporation (BEC), a leader in the distribution and advanced electro-optical products and solutions, announces a new partnership with Nikkiso USA.  This partnership combines Boston Electronics’ presence in the ultraviolet (UV) market with Nikkiso’s advanced ultraviolet light emitting diode products (UV-LED).  Under the new agreement BEC will distribute Nikkiso’s UV-LED products into the North American market.

Apple is asking some of its key iPhone suppliers including Foxconn and Pegatron to shift production to U.S. following President Donald Trump’s policies promoting “made in America,” reported Nikkei Asian Review.

Philips Photonics, a wholly owned business of Royal Philips announced that it is doubling capacity at its laser-diode facility in Ulm, Germany, to provide the key components for some of the latest developments in data communication, consumer sensing and industrial thermal processing.

Littelfuse  announced that Gordon Hunter, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, will transition to the role of Executive Chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2017. Dave Heinzmann, Chief Operating Officer, will assume the position of President and Chief Executive Officer at that time and will join the company’s board of directors, bringing the size of the board to eight members.

Last night at the Printed Electronics USA conference in Santa Clara, Calif., Kateeva’s YIELDjet™ FLEX inkjet printing system was named the winner of the prestigious Technical Development Manufacturing Award. Presented annually by conference organizer IDTechEx, the award honors the most significant development of a manufacturing device process or production plant in the printed electronics industry over the previous 24 months. In particular, manufacturing developments that optimize the process of lab-scale or mass-scale production by improving productivity, quality, reliability, uniformity, or scale.

Lighting Science announced a collaboration agreement with iHome, a division of consumer electronics manufacturer SDI Technologies. Under the terms of the two-year agreement, the two technology leaders will explore the incorporation of Lighting Science’s patented spectrum control technology into iHome’s Zenergy product line. The agreement also includes co-marketing provisions, including the endorsement of nationally-renowned sleep expert Dr. Michael J. Breus, who currently serves as a member of Lighting Science’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Debuting its OLED signage product portfolio for commercial applications on Tuesday, large Korean consumer electronic manufacturer LG is moving away from big-screened OLED TVs for home entertainment in Taiwan.

YAMING Lighting, the gold sponsors of Light Middle East 2016 returns to the show after a successful outing last year. Rashid Al Noori, Chairman of YAMING MEA and CIS, said, "Since the last Light Middle East edition we have been in close contact with the industry's key players and have signed partnership with distributors within the region”.

Lighting Science, a global leader in next-generation LED lighting solutions, announced that it has been awarded a contract by Vizient. With an annual purchasing volume of almost US $100 billion, Vizient is the largest, member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country.

On Oct.14, 2016, EU RAPEX (Rapid Exchange of Information System) recalled two LED luminaries from the consumer market. One was a color changing LED Bulb, the other one was a high power LED lamp. Both products were recalled because they pose potential electric shock to users due to inadequate circuit insulation or loosely attached parts. Last Friday, on the newly released RAPEX report, four other LED luminaries were listed: linear fixture by Best-LED, LED Magic Ball Light and LED Sun Magic Ball by ASA, and LED Floodlight by GREENLUX.

The next flagship smartphone Samsung launches will feature a larger bezel-less OLED display screen than most phones on the market, which according to Forbes analyses would enable a more immersive VR gaming experience.

Thermal management specialist Cambridge Nanotherm today announces it has built significant additional capability and capacity into its MCPCB manufacturing base to meet rising demand for its award-winning thermal management solutions. The company has established partnerships with a wide network of PCB and thin-film manufacturers to offer a broad range of options in terms of circuitization, quality, volume and standards.

At the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, Audi of America will debut its first US production laser light on the 2017 Audi R8 V10 plus exclusive edition. The R8 exclusive edition utilizes full LED headlights, which are now supplemented by a laser high beam module in each headlight.

Despite of the tremors of explosive Galaxy Note 7 sent down Samsung Electronics finances, the company reported operating profits surpassed KRW 5 trillion (US $4.37 billion) during third quarter of 2016, driven by its semiconductors and display businesses, reported Business Korea.

On Oct. 13-14, 2016 the live printing demo of the mid-web 8-colors central drum ONYX 810 was held at Uteco headquarters in Colognola ai Colli.

ClearLight Technology®, a division of American Machine Vision LLC announces its US $60,000 in 60 days Kickstarter campaign to fund the certification and final engineering of their low-power, low heat, energy efficient LED retrofit module for fluorescent tube fixtures.

Enel has connected an 88 MW wind farm to the grid in Nojoli, South Africa, and launched a rural electrification project with Liter of Light, to bring sustainable light to the streets of its surrounding villages.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released CALiPER Report 24: Photometric Testing, Laboratory Teardowns, and Accelerated Lifetime Testing of OLED Luminaires, which is the first CALiPER report evaluating the performance of OLED luminaires based on independent procurement and testing. Among the findings:

Foxconn, a long term Apple partner, might have lost its bid to assemble the glass backs in iPhone 8, as reports from Nikkei Asian Review point out Chinese sapphire manufacturers will be the major suppliers.