GE Lighting has signed partnership agreement with UAE lighting solutions company AW Rostamini Lumina, a business division of AW Rostamani Group of companies in Dubai earlier this month, according to a report from Gulf News.

OSRAM was announced as the Official Lighting Partner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

Royal Philips , the global leader in lighting, is helping rose growers increase yields and improve the quality of the most romantic, yet light-intensive flower in the world. Philips GreenPower toplighting LED solution brings more light for the same amount of energy, optimized light spectrum and a significant reduction in radiated heat. Today, Philips announces that three major cut rose producers from Belgium and The Netherlands have installed GreenPower toplighting and are using Philips’ light recipes to obtain significant improvements.

When the GPT Group (www.gpt.com.au) installed its first NanoLumens (www.nanolumens.com) visualization solution at its Melbourne Central Shopping Center earlier this year, they discovered a more effective way to engage and influence shoppers’ retail behavior.  So when the time came to enhance the engagement solutions at its Highpoint Shopping Center (www.highpoint.com.au) in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong, they turned to the same team at NanoLumens and Digital Place Solutions (www.digitalplacesolutions.com) to design a solution that would need to perform just as brilliantly in an environment that is basked in sunlight for up to four to six hours a day.

Nichia revealed some of its future product plans for 2016 at a recent press conference held in Taipei, Taiwan. The Japanese company is still very focused on LED chip R&D, and plans to invest resources into niche lighting markets including UV LED and laser next year.

A Massachusetts federal jury in U.S. has decided recently, Epistar, Everlight Electronics and Lite-on need to compensate $ 13.7 million to Boston University (BU)for willfully infringing LED patents, reported Law360.

LG Display, the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it will invest KRW1.84 trillion (US $ 1.60 billion) to begin building a new  panel plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, with production expected to commence in the first half of 2018.

The Japanese government intends to phase out the country’s incandescent light bulbs and fluorescent tubes by 2020, and convert all lights to LEDs, reported Asahi Shinbun.

Apple suppliers have revealed the Cupertino-based company will be launching an OLED iPhone in 2018, according to a latest report from Nikkei.

As several counties in the UK plan and execute LED streetlights conversion, Cumbria County, the county that is known for its natural beauty, also has LED switch plan for up to 16,000 high pressure and low pressure sodium lanterns within the county.

pureLiFi, the light communications technology company that leads the market in development and commercialization of LiFi (the high speed, bidirectional, networked and mobile wireless communications using light) and Lucibel, the French company that specializes in the design of new-generation lighting solutions based on the LED technology, are to co-develop and market Europe's first, fully industrialized LiFi luminaire.

The Aurora Group announced three key changes to its brand structure and market strategy to ensure the delivery of its new corporate mission – creating ‘Value Beyond Illumination’. This reflects Aurora’s commitment to the integration of new smart technologies in LED lighting and the associated ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) proposition, which is set to change the way lighting is sold and monetized.

Large UK home enhancer and garden retailer issued a notice recently recalling “Baby start LED night lights” that under certain circumstances could trigger a small explosion.

The sluggish global economy triggered the downtrend in the LED industry in 2015, and next year is expected to be just as challenging for manufacturers in the backlight and general lighting market, said Katsuyuki Akutagawa, Chief Legal & IP Officer and Company Board Director of Nichia (the company) at a press conference held in Mandarin Oriental Taipei, earlier Wednesday. 

Power management company Eaton today outlined how recently acquired Ephesus Lighting, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based manufacturer of connected light-emitting diode (LED) lighting solutions for sporting venues and high lumen outdoor and industrial applications, will create new value for a wide range of customers. Ephesus Lighting is a market leader in high output controlled lighting solutions that harness advanced electronic design technology to bring lighting into the digital age.

Deco Lighting, has been awarded a master contract from the School Project for Utility Rate Reduction (SPURR) for interior and exterior LED lighting retrofits as of October 1, 2015. Deco Lighting was selected from among multiple vendors after an open, competitive RFP process on the basis of price, range of Design Lights Consortium qualified products available, quality of products, controls, company background and references, and additional value-add services available. 

Stimulated by a real-world problem, the shortage of electric energy in remote areas of Peru and particularly in rural areas of the tropical forest, the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC), through a team of researchers - made up of teachers and eight students – developed a Plant lamp, an innovative alternative renewable energy generating system.    

Chinese solar power hardware manufacturer Solar Leading has entered the new photovoltaic (PV) street light product market, which is designed with the aim of providing longer lifetime and low energy consumption lights to cities and companies, reportedIHS Electronics 360.

The capital of Indian State Karnataka will initiate its LED bulb scheme from Dec. 11, 2015, according to a report from The Times of India.

CEA-Leti and its partners in the European FP7 project PLAT4M today announced they have built three silicon photonics platforms. The four-year project, which launched in 2013, aims at building a European-based supply chain in silicon photonics and speeding industrialization of the technology. PLAT4M, which is funded by a European Commission grant of 10.2 million euros, includes 15 leading European R&D institutes and CMOS companies, key industrial and research organizations in design and packaging, as well as end users in different application fields, to build the complete supply chain.

Several Canadian cities have announced plans to swap their old traditional streetlights for more energy efficient LED lights, but the country’s sixth largest capital Mississauga, located in Southern Ontario underestimated the finance it would need to replace the city streetlights.

Elemental LED, a leading U.S.-based engineering and technology company that manufactures LED lighting solutions announced today a strategic partnership with Border States Electric that extends its Diode LED product brand into the 81 branches of Border States Electric representing close to 200 locations. Border States Electric joins the Diode LED National Account Program which offers strategic dealers advanced product training, in-field support, and innovative programs designed to help them showcase and deliver the solutions and value of the Diode LED product line to their customers. Elemental LED and its wholesale and manufacturing division, Diode LED provides a wide variety of superior quality linear, task, and accent LED lighting solutions for both residential and commercial applications.

Highlights this week: The India market’s demands for star labelled efficient products has doubled with falling prices and increased participation of private companies, as the country follows its commitment to lower carbon footprint ahead of climate change talks to take place in Paris later this month. Following Osram’s announcement last week that the company is to invest EUR 1 billion in a new Malaysia-based plant for LED chips, a leading investor in Osram expressed opposing opinions about Osram’s latest strategy. LEDinside’s analysts initial estimates that about 30% of the EUR 1 billion investment will go into constructing the factory, and probably 30% in chip processing while Osram might be investing around EUR 400 million in MOCVD equipment. ON Semiconductor and Fairchild Semiconductor announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for ON Semiconductor to acquire Fairchild for in an all cash transaction valued at approximately US $2.4 billion.

Authorities in Anhui, China reported seizing counterfeited Philips LED pendant lights from the local architectural material market. The luminaires labelled with Philips’s trademark were confirmed to be fake by officials of Royal Philips. Authorities found 236 counterfeited luminaires, worth RMB 20,000 (US $3,134).

Shortly after releasing the top 100 of China’s Rich List this year, Forbes followed up with the publication of Forbes List of China’s 400 richest.

Following Osram’s announcement last week that the company is to invest EUR 1 billion in a new Malaysia-based plant for LED chips, a leading investor in Osram expressed opposing opinions about Osram’s latest strategy, reported Reuters.

Key Transaction Highlights: Creates a leader in the power semiconductor market with a broad and deep product portfolio Highly complementary product lines offering the full spectrum of high, medium and low voltage products Strengthens presence in key strategic areas – industrial, automotive and smartphone end markets Immediately accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share and free cash flow Expect significant accretion to non-GAAP EPS within a few quarters post close Clear line of sight to $150 million in annual cost savings within 18 months of the transaction close

Oversupply situations in the LED chip sector, and fierce competition in the general lighting sector over the past few years has aggravated the pricing situation in 2015. White LED chip prices for the large part have reflected a consistent downtrend over the past few years. Despite the ominous cloud hanging over the LED chip and general lighting sector, German LED chip manufacturer Osram announced last week it would be injecting in total EUR 2 billion (EUR 2.14 billion) in R&D and EUR 1 billion in LED manufacturing in the next five years.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) responded to IES TM-30-15 with NEMA LSCR-PP 1-2015 Light Source Color Rendition. The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) recently published TM-30-15 IES Method for Evaluating Light Source Color Rendition. NEMA has produced a position paper, Light Source Color Rendition, in response to this document.

A team of Florida State University materials researchers has developed a new type of light-emitting diode, or LED, using an organic-inorganic hybrid that could lead to cheaper, brighter and mass produced lights and displays in the future.