Cost effective communication solutions are important for long range smart streetlight applications to make it acceptable to potential clients, said Gary Tsai, R&D Director, Institute for Information Industry (III) at LEDforum 2014 last Friday at Taipei, Taiwan.

A stunning video shot by Sweetgrass productions sponsored by Philips has transformed the snowy Alaskan mountain slopes in U.S. and snowy hills of British Columbia, Canada into a dreamily illuminating landscape, according to a Wired report.

Pemco Holdings, LLC (Pemco), a leading investor and developer of energy efficiency projects, in partnership with Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), today announced the completion of the Brunswick Landing LED Street Lighting Improvement Project at the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine, U.S. The project, which pioneered the use of dimming controls on public street lighting in the U.S., includes the upgrade of 650 street and area lights with new LED fixtures and radio frequency-enabled control and monitoring systems.

The role of phosphor powder in LED applications is increasingly important to lower LED production costs and meet higher light quality demands, said Calvin Yeh, Global Strategic Marketing Manager, Lighting/PV Business Field, Merck Display Technologies, at LEDforum 2014 hosted by LEDinside on Oct. 24, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Cree introduces the New Cree® LED Bulb, delivering superior light performance while looking just like an incandescent light bulb at an even more affordable price. Featuring a new innovative design, the New Cree LED Bulb provides the same cost savings and 25,000-hour lifetime that made the original Cree LED Bulb America’s best-selling LED bulb. Available as 40- and 60-watt replacements, the New Cree LED Bulb is available at The Home Depot® for as low as US $7.97. This is a 20% price mark down compared to previous bulb products, said Cree.

Top Chinese LED manufacturer San’an Opto has swapped its shares in FOREPI for leading Taiwanese LED chip maker Epistar shares, the Investment Commission of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced Tuesday.

The LED segment might have made significant technology advancements that have driven down costs, and made the bulbs more affordable to most households, the office lighting sector remains a difficult segment for LED manufacturers to tap into, said Michael Schmitt, Regional Market Director, Asia-Pacific, Osram Opto Semiconductors at LEDforum 2014, which took place in Taipei, Taiwan last Friday. 

Taiwanese connector manufacturer Ant Precision has been gradually transiting its business model towards automotive connector and industrial products, due to impact from easing notebook demand market, according to a report by Money DJ. The company has developed connectors for LED products for several years, and will be supplying connectors for IKEA residential LED lights. Ant Precision’s LED connectors were approved this month by IKEA, and will be entering mass production phase in 2Q14 by 2015.

By late January, 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone could be infected with the Ebola virus. That’s the worst-case scenario of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa recently offered by scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC warns that  those countries could now have 21,000 cases of the virus, which kills 70 percent of people infected.

The days of glimpsing the world through a tiny plastic porthole when you fly are soon to be a thing of the past; future aircrafts will offer a crystal clear panoramic view without any windows at all. At the UK based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), scientists and engineers are developing ultra-flexible, high-definition display technologies that could line the interior walls of cabins and display live footage from external cameras.

Global LED trends show backlight applications are in decline, and that lighting will remain the major market driver, said Sean Zhou, Regional Marketing Director, Asia, Philips Lumileds at LEDforum 2014, which took place Friday in Taipei, Taiwan. In terms of regional market performances, LED market growth in Japan has waned compared to other regions.

LED applications are getting creative by the day, the latest addition is a rather unique application of transforming the mundane trip to the toilet to take a leak into an experience close to hitting the disco dance floor.

Japanese pump and LED manufacturer Nikkiso will start mass producing UV LEDs with a wavelength between 255-350 nm in Spring 2015, according to a report by Japanese media Nikkei Technology.

Scientists have created a drug for type 2 diabetes that is switched on by blue light, which they hope will improve treatment of the disease.

Norwegian design studio Drap og Design has developed a color-changing LED jacket inspired by squids color-morphing ability to blend in with its surroundings.

Today is the first day of the deodorant revolution, as ClickStick launches on Kickstarter. ClickStick (www.getclickstick.com) is the world's first smart electric deodorant applicator, equipped with push-button delivery, adjustable amounts, LED indicators and a free mobile app.

In support of energy reduction initiatives underway at the Naval Support Activity Annapolis and the US Naval Academy, Ephesus Lighting Inc., the industry leader in LED lighting for sports facilities, has been selected under two contracts to install energy efficient and high-quality LED lighting at seven outdoor sports complexes, three indoor sports arenas and five additional outdoor locations on Naval Support Activity Annapolis. The announcement was made by Amy Casper, CEO of Ephesus Lighting, and Lieutenant Commander Cristopher Neish, Energy Officer, Public Works Department Annapolis.

A new wearable medical device can quickly alert a person if they are having cardiovascular trouble or if it’s simply time to put on some skin moisturizer, reports a Northwestern University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a report on the longer-term performance of an LED lighting system that was installed on the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis in September 2008 and represents one of the country's oldest continuously operated exterior LED lighting installations. The report is a welcome addition to the literature on LED lighting, which is lacking in the area of longer-term field performance.

Concerned residents in New Orleans East, Louisiana, U.S. reported new LED streetlights are leaving more unlit areas than conventional streetlights, according to a WDSU New Orleans report.

B/E Aerospace new Emteq unit Diehl Aerospace and other aircraft cabin lighting might be getting LED lighting upgrades from Panasonic in the near future, according to a report by Runway Girl Network.

The iPhone 6 might not come with sapphire glass cover, but the Apple Watch will, according to MyDrivers.com. Just how much is this tiny piece of glass worth?

Inspired by a desire to help wounded soldiers, an international, multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Assistant Professor Conor Evans at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) has created a paint-on, see-through, “smart” bandage that glows to indicate a wound’s tissue oxygenation concentration. Because oxygen plays a critical role in healing, mapping these levels in severe wounds and burns can help to significantly improve the success of surgeries to restore limbs and physical functions.

Here at Valuelights we all knew LED lighting was awesome but we didn’t realise how much they had been snapped up in the media, hitting the big screens of Hollywood for their chance to shine with the stars. We’ve compiled the top 10 moments LED has gained its 15 minutes of fame, and schmoozed with the rich and famous.

Ford Motor Company is investing in the future as it begins installing LED lighting at manufacturing facilities across the globe. The new lights, valued at more than US $25 million, will save energy and money while improving safety and lighting quality.

In this latest blog entry by Philips Lauren Spinella, LED devices take on the task of aiding the visually impaired.

The art of video projection is becoming a widespread phenomenon. “3D projection mapping creates the illusion of multidimensional movement across or around the contours of any surface.” Many cities are now incorporating this ambitious technological art form as part of their events to tell a story using graphic, historic, cultural or mythical content. We have seen fascinating 3D projections on building façades and cathedrals all over the world, from the Sydney Opera House in the southern hemisphere, to the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa, to the Sagrada Cathedral in Barcelona.

Princeton University researchers have developed a new method to increase the brightness, efficiency and clarity of LEDs, which are widely used on smartphones and portable electronics as well as becoming increasingly common in lighting.

Digital Lumens, the leader in intelligent LED lighting and energy management systems, today announced that its Digital Light Agent family of products integrates directly with the recently announced Philips Advance Xitanium SR family of drivers to make any LED fixture part of a LightRules-managed intelligent lighting system.

Albeit smart LED bulbs rising popularity among LED manufacturers, for the time being these are still novelty products that only adventurous consumers with enough patience in sorting out the set up will try out, according to a Wall Street Journal report.