Grabbing headlines this week, Philips has spin-off its traditional lighting business. Implications of the lighting giant’s recent moves can be found in LEDinside latest press release on the issue. We will be releasing an in-depth report on the issue next week. Toshiba is also vying the India LED market having announced it will be setting up a new R&D facility. Moving into LED technology developments, several universities have announced breakthroughs in LED and OLED technology that can make lighting devices more energy efficient. 

In a step that could lead to longer battery life in smartphones and lower power consumption for large-screen televisions, researchers at the University of Michigan have extended the lifetime of blue organic light emitting diodes by a factor of 10.

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.

Utilities, commercial buildings and more can now rely on a more energy-efficient alternative to traditional high-intensity discharge (HID) security lights with GE’s Evolve™ LED Security Light.

Power management company Eaton today announced that the 2014 Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) Solid-State Lighting Design Indoor Competition recognized the Metalux SkyBar™ light-emitting diode (LED) high-bay luminaire and the Portfolio 8-inch LED downlight from its Cooper Lighting Division. The prestigious competition recognizes and promotes excellence in the design of energy-efficient LED luminaires for commercial, industrial and institutional applications.

Everlight has successfully entered top Chinese smartphone manufacturers supply chain including Xiaomi, Huawei and Lenovo, according to an EDN report. The company has become a major backlight supplier for Android smartphone manufactures. The company’s revenue in September 2014 is expected to reach new record heights.

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.

Pixelligent Technologies announced today that it has been selected for a Department of Energy (DOE) solid-state-lighting award to support the continued development of its OLED lighting application. The details of the award can be viewed on the DOE SSL website: //www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/fundopps_061214.html. Pixelligent and its partner OLEDWorks were selected as one of only nine awardees nationwide for this US$1.25 million DOE award.

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.

Plessey today announced a further ambitious move to aligning its operations to its expanding Plymouth UK facility through the addition of an LED assembly line. The assembly line will enable Plessey to focus on its innovative high brightness LED growth plans based around its solid-state lighting and sensing business, taking new products from concept to production in less time whilst also functioning as an innovation center for the next generation of LED packages.

A Japanese semiconductor technology R&D manufacturer Athene has developed a new technology for manufacturing high precision OLED panels, according to a Nikkei Asian Review report.

Entering its 10th anniversary this year, Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Prolight Opto Technology (Prolight) will become registered on the Taiwan bourse on Sept. 24, 2014. At a press conference, the company explained it expects to apply for listing during first half of 2015, and projects becoming listed on the bourse during third quarter that year.

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.

Since inception, Illumitex has invested more than US $45 million into the development and commercialization of our innovative LED technology. An expert in the field of optics, company founder and Chief Technology Officer Dung Duong based the design of Illumitex LED optics on basic physics principles, which ensure that the vast majority of the photons being emitted from the LEDs are captured and delivered directly to the cannabis canopy. As a result, the highest level of efficiency and light intensity is achieved in a proprietary and patented LED package. A vertically integrated company, Illumitex manufactures its LED packages in Penang, Malaysia (including robotic die placement, gold wire bonding, phosphor application and optic assembly) and assembles fixtures in Austin, TX.

Dayton Power & Light Company (DP&L), a subsidiary of The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) awarded Victoria Theatre Association with an energy efficiency rebate of US $67,650 for extensive lighting upgrades in The Arts Garage.

Market insiders in Taiwan recognize the LED TV backlight market entered seasonal adjustments in third quarter, but the adjustments are expected to impact LED manufacturers revenue in September, according to a China Times report. Taiwan’s LED chip manufacturers revenue were impacted by inventory adjustments from July to August 2014, while LED package manufacturers have kept up growth.

Refond Opto announced Monday night, shareholder Konka Precision Mould Plastic (Konka) sold out more than 3.02 percent of its stake in the Chinese LED manufacturer, according to a Sinai report.

At a meeting with investors and analysts in London, Royal Philips announces the next strategic step to capitalize on fundamental market changes, by creating two market-leading companies focused on the HealthTech and Lighting solutions opportunities. Both companies will continue to benefit from leveraging the Philips brand. With 2013 sales of EUR 15 billion for Philips’ combined HealthTech businesses and EUR 7 billion for the Lighting solutions businesses[1], each company has the scale to fully leverage Philips’ heritage of more than 120 years of innovation.

Philips Lumileds announced today it has expanded beyond its well-respected LED product offerings to include Matrix Platform solutions. The Matrix Platform consists of turnkey LED solutions using components, optics and LUXEON LEDs assembled on a wide selection of board types. This platform launches today with two product lines—the LUXEON XR and LUXEON XF—on rigid and flexible substrates respectively.

The Illumination Engineering Society (IES) recently published a “position statement” (PS-8-14) which states that color rendering “requirements should not be a metric used in energy regulations to characterize color attributes for solid state lighting.” This unfortunate wording has caused unnecessary headaches within the lighting community, but what the well-intentioned IES meant to say was that the commonly used Color Rendering Index (CRI) metric is not entirely adequate and a replacement is warranted. We fully agree and are actively engaged with IES to improve this metric, but by no means should color rendering requirements be put on the sidelines while we all wait for improvements!

Hubbell Lighting, a world leader in lighting innovation, and TOTUS Solutions, the leading provider of outdoor lighting based security platforms, will debut Spaulding Lighting’s popular Cimarron LED fixture (CL1) controlled by the Integrated TOTUS Surveillance Platform™ (iTSP™) with a built-in Axis Communications multi-megapixel IP video surveillance camera (AXIS M3027-PVE) during the 2014 ASIS International Expo at Axis Communications’ booth #1023.

ESCATEC, one of Europe's leading providers of contract and manufacturing services, has nearly doubled the size of its ISO Class 7 cleanroom to meet the increasing need for miniaturized, multi-function components and 'smart materials/systems' with new equipment for material preparation, components creation and assemblies.  The expansion includes a 'Future Lab' with advanced state-of-the-art R&D, custom designs, specialised prototyping, and novel process development that will offer leading-edge LED solutions as well as a dedicated workspace next to the cleanroom for 'hands-on' design work with ESCATEC's partners

To accelerate Civilight North America’s commitment to offering high quality and high performance indoor LED lamps in the United States, Mexico and Canada, the company has appointed five new lighting industry veterans to sales and marketing positions. The new national sales and marketing team will service distributors, specifiers and lighting professionals. The vice president of sales and the marketing director will report directly to Jeffrey E. Lagaly, CEO of Civilight North America.

LED package manufacturer Harvatek revenues is expected to drop during third quarter in 2014, due to adjustments in lighting OEM orders, according to a Money DJ report. However, the company is expected to see revenue growth next season. While further long term observations are required to determine the impact from Cree’s patent lawsuit.

Following the integration among upstream LED manufacturers in Taiwan, such as the merger between Epistar and FOREPI and Cree’s investment in Lextar, Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) has become the second largest LED die supplier in Taiwan, according to a UDN report. Since Chicony became GPI’s largest shareholder, GPI’s financial performance has gradually improved, and has recently completed raising NT $1.0 billion (US $300 million) funding.

Toshiba Lighting has been the latest international manufacturer to show interest in the Indian market, according to a report from The Economic Times.

Images associated to the British name Dyson brings to mind innovative vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans, and hand dryers. Sir James Dyson was the master mind behind the design and manufacturing of these high-end electric appliances, and now his son Jake Dyson is following closely in his footsteps in LED luminaire designs.

University of Utah physicists read the subatomic “spins” in the centers or nuclei of hydrogen isotopes, and used the data to control current that powered light in a cheap, plastic LED – at room temperature and without strong magnetic fields.

Outlines investment of INR 600 million (US $9.86 million) in next three years to set up operations, distribution and retail infrastructure, including exclusive brand stores in top 30 cities

Highlights this week, Cree sues two Taiwanese LED manufacturers Harvatek and Knightbright over LED patent infringements. New analysis on sapphire cover glass disappearance from the iPhone 6 result in two very different arguments, with one camp attempting to shield GTAT by saying it was Chinese sapphire processing manufacturers fault. However, a follow up analysis noted Apple never planned to use sapphire glass in iPhone 6 to begin with. DOE has also released new energy savings forecasts for SSL, while Rubicon announces change of CEO.