Indian electric goods maker Havells has acquired a controlling 51% stake in LED and solar energy company Pompetec Renewable Energy Solutions, reported The Economic Times.

Veeco Instruments announced today that the University of Cambridge, one of the most highly regarded research universities in the world, has ordered thePropel™ Power Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System for GaN-on-silicon (Si) power electronics and light emitting diode (LED) research and development.

LEDforum 2015 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China is less than 60 days away! If the LED industry’s performance in 2014 was extraordinary, than 2015 will be glorious. LEDinside estimates that the global LED lighting market will reach $25.7 billion dollars and its market penetration will increase 31% in 2015, while the overall lighting market is projected to grow to $82.1 billion.

Most LED manufacturers were displaying UV or IR LED related applications at SPIE Photonics West, and many of these new applications covered LED chips, dies, package and other products.

Taiwan Lighting Fixture Export Association (TLFEA) has been promoting the inclusion of LED lighting products at World Trade Organization (WTO) Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) negotiations, a UDN report cited the association chairman Steven Lin saying at a meeting.

Declining LED prices are driving more Filipino consumers to convert from conventional CFL lights to LEDs, reported BusinessWorld Online.

Kent, a city located in Washington State, U.S., will be spending US$ 2.6 million to retrofit 2,600 streetlights with LEDs, reported Kent Reporter.

TCP International Holdings announced that its product validation review is proceeding as expected.  The Company has completed testing on substantially all of its fastest moving SKUs.  For the remaining SKUs, TCP expects to complete validation shortly.  In addition, the Company affirmed that UL certified designs are available for all products and that products being shipped are UL certified.  

Two interesting market rumors about OLED applications have emerged this week, the first being OLED taillights developed by Osram might be mass produced for the upcoming BMW M2 in 2016. A Korean media report is also pointing to Apple’s introduction of OLED displays in next generation iPads to be released in 2017.

Lianovation recently announced its revenue was up 22.14% to RMB 1.96 billion (US $320 million) in 2014.

Japanese LED manufacturer Yokowo has launched Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) Chip Scale Package (CSP) substrate to lower LED package costs, reported Nikkei recently.

Seeking Alpha, a U.S. financial content service provider, has recently revealed ForceField Energy, a LED installation and energy efficient lighting company engagement in misleading paid stock promotion.

OSRAM Licht AG recorded a continued positive operative earnings development in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. The adjusted EBITA of EUR151 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was positively impacted by favorable currency relations. This results in an adjusted EBITA margin of 10.8%. Based on today’s consultations, the Management Board therefore expects an adjusted EBITA margin of above 9.0% for fiscal 2015.

Two years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook deemed OLED screens color saturation as “awful,” and lauded Retina display resolution and color performance as far superior, but this all might be changing for the company’s future iPads.

San'an Optoelectronics announced that it  licensed the U.S. LED patents it recently acquired from a major Japanese company to its subsidiary, Luminus Devices.

Acuity Brands announced it has acquired for cash certain assets, including the patent portfolio and all other intellectual property rights, of ByteLight, a provider of indoor location software for LED lighting. The combination of ByteLight's technology with Acuity Brands' award-winning Visible Light Communication-enabled drivers and LED lighting platforms provides retailers with a method of delivering digital content to shoppers and associates within a retail store in an effort to increase customer loyalty and revenues while also reducing operating expenses.

Cities on both U.S. coasts will soon begin piloting new GE technology designed to help them become more intelligent and efficient. San Diego, California, and Jacksonville, Florida, will both be trialing a new GE LED solution, which uses LED street lighting installations to connect, collect and analyze data being generated, harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet to help their city run better while providing new services and conveniences for residents and visitors.

OLED taillights BMW showcased in its conceptual M4 car model at CES 2015 will be making its way to new BMW M series cars by 2016, according to latest market rumors.

STG Aerospace, a world leader in pioneering aircraft lighting technologies, has been awarded the contract to retrofit the DreamJet trading as La Compagnie Boeing 757-200 aircraft that has been configured to provide a transatlantic all-business class service. The aircraft will be equipped with STG Aerospace’s latest generation safTglo® SuperSeal UltraLite™ (SSUL) emergency floorpath marking system and liTeMood® LED cabin lighting system.  The installations will take place later this month.

The Apple iPhone 6/ 6 Plus might not be featuring sapphire screen display, but Chinese smartphone manufacturer Dakale has went ahead in using the material in its latest model Dakale 3, which is priced at a mere RMB 1,499 (US $241.61) reported Chinese online media Forward.

The efficient conversion of light into electricity plays a crucial role in many technologies, ranging from cameras to solar cells. It also forms an essential step in data communication applications, since it allows for information carried by light to be converted into electrical information that can be processed in electrical circuits. Graphene is an excellent material for ultrafast conversion of light to electrical signals, but so far it was not known how fast graphene responds to ultrashort flashes of light.

Orion Energy Systems a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient lighting platforms, today announced that it recently received a contract award of approximately $1.0 million to retrofit a Northern California-based location of a globally-known designer and manufacturer of mobile devices, tablets, and personal computers. The award represented repeat business for Orion from this customer, which was upgrading fluorescent fixtures with a comprehensive lighting solution that included Orion’s ISON LED High Bay lighting fixtures (approximately 660 units), solar light pipes (approximately 1150 units) and Orion’s InteLite control system.

STG Aerospace, a world leader in pioneering aircraft lighting technologies, is delighted to announce that its safTglo® photoluminescent emergency floorpath marking system has been chosen by Shanghai Airlines as a replacement for the combination of electrical and photoluminescent lighting systems previously installed in its fleet of Boeing 767s. Four of the airline’s seven-strong fleet have now been retrofitted with safTglo®.

Top automotive lighting manufacturers gave LEDinside team some insight about the market outlook and challenges at the 31st Taipei International Auto Parts and Accessories Show (Taipei AMPA), which ran from April 8-11, 2015 at TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall and TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 Area A in Taiwan.

Los Angeles based Lucera Labs has developed an IR sensor equipped alarm clock that wakes up people gently with a focused beam of LED light.

Following up on promising results from pilot work, researchers at the VA Boston Healthcare System are testing the effects of light therapy on brain function in Veterans with Gulf War Illness.

Corning Incorporated today announced a collaborative agreement with OLEDWorks to develop unique, flexible, and conformable OLED lighting solutions using Corning® Willow® Glass as an integrated substrate.

Plessey Semiconductors announced that it has entered into a sales representative agreement with ROM Electronik, an electronics distributor and provider of advanced complete solutions headquartered close to Istanbul, to expand its European network with coverage in the Turkish market for its GaN-on-Silicon LED products.  

STG Aerospace, a pioneer in aircraft lighting technologies, is delighted to announce that it has established an official presence in China with the launch of a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE), STG Aerospace (China) Co., Ltd. based in Shanghai. This new initiative is a reflection of the importance of China as a market for STG Aerospace. According to a recent IATA report, the country is expected to overtake the United States as the world’s largest air passenger market by 2030.

LEDinside team finally gets a chance to meet the Father of Blue LED, Shuji Nakamura, at a special Epistar event. Nobel Laureate Nakamura and Steven DenBaars, a fellow colleague at College of Engineering at UCSB, point out the future of LED lighting technology will be GaN-on-GaN, and that laser emerge as the upcoming next generation lighting to replace LEDs.