The SmartCharge light bulb is the first of its kind. The bulb does not rely on grid power to light up, allow it to remain lit even during a power outage. With the use of the patent pending Grid & Switch Sensor technology, the bulb can be controlled through wall and lamp switches like a normal light bulb but can be turned on even without power.

OSRAM SYLVANIA is introducing the OSRAM PrevaLED® CUBE LED light engine, which is ideal for use in downlight fixtures. The PrevaLED CUBE provides fixture manufacturers a flexible, cost-effective light engine that delivers high-quality illumination and industry-leading system efficacy for their customers.

Sharp Corp. has developed a LED device for backlight in LCD panels and expanded color gamut by 25% without lowering the screen’s brightness, according to a Tech-On article. Using the LED device, the LCD panels can now reach 90% color gamut on NTSC (CIE1931) standards without making any changes to liquid crystal cells.

Intematix Corp., a leading manufacturer of phosphor solutions for LED lighting, today announced that U.S. patent No. 8,597,545 was issued on December 3, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This patent covers novel formulations for red emitting, nitride based phosphors and include products in the company’s XR phosphor product family. This award extends Intematix’s innovation leadership in phosphors that improve the performance of LED lighting.

German car manufacturer BMW gives an in depth video introduction on its latest LED laser lights in its concept car BMW i8. The car maker claims the new laser LED headlights high beam lights are capable of emitting lights at longer range of 600 meters compared to normal LED high beam’s 300 meters. The new technology is yet to proliferate, according to a article by CarScoop.

Osram Opto Semiconductors is now launching two new high-power versions of the Osram Ostar Projection for projectors with a brightness of up to 1700 lumen. Thanks to their optimized product design they offer very high luminous flux from the available chip surface. Between 1000 and 8300 lumen can be produced depending on the color and the LED version. An antireflex coated glass cover instead of the usual lens, together with external optics, ensures that the light is very well bundled. The new LEDs are therefore ideally matched to the efficient lighting from various additional optics.

Journée Lighting, designer and manufacturer of LED lighting fixtures announces that it has received its 46th issued patent; Journée’s intellectual property portfolio continues to rapidly expand with the introduction of their patented Snap-Lock™ LED Driver Cartridge and Field-Replaceable Linear LED Modules.

Xicato announced that it has expanded its Vibrant Series offerings to include both a 1300 lumen and 2000 lumen option alongside its 3000 lumen module. Introduced in July, the Vibrant Series has been quickly adopted by designers, merchandisers and brand managers to support their efforts to differentiate and create compelling experiences for customers.

Ledzworld announced a new LED lamp that makes traditional ceramic metal halide (CMH) bulbs a thing of the past. The perfect choice to replace outdated and inefficient CMH bulbs, Ledzworld’s Platinum LED PAR38 lamp is the industry’s first 2000 lumen, single source LED lamp without active cooling.

Checkers Industrial Safety Products announced the immediate availability of their new AID LIGHTS™ LED2250 Class I Beacons. With an ultra efficient power supply, these high intensity beacons produce more flashes per minute with less power draw, which minimizes maintenance and replacement costs. AID LIGHTS™ LED2250 Beacons quickly alert people of upcoming hazards to create a safer work environment for traffic safety, construction, mining, utilities, or in other hazardous or emergency areas.

Inspired by a classic holiday poem, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” this year’s National Christmas Tree on display in front of the White House will feature GE’s new, energy smart® Sugar Plum light-emitting diode (LED) holiday lighting.

Larson Electronics has revealed their new low profile LED lighting fixture for hazardous locations. The HAL-24-16W-LED-1227 is designed to provide a high output and ruggedly durable hazardous area lighting solution for applications where Class 1 Division 2 compliance is required.

Hubbell Lighting announced its latest energy-saving dimming controls solution—Hubbell Building Automation's new CX Dimming Option Card. Now, any of Hubbell Building Automation's popular, low-cost CX Lighting Control Panels are fully dimmable.

With 4Q coming to a close, this week has seen a substantial number of companies releasing their financial reports. Financial firms, such as UBS, have also released market forecasts for 2014.

Cree, Inc. is building on the industry’s most versatile LED street light portfolio with the LEDway® High Output (HO) LED street light. With its higher lumen output, the new LEDway HO LED street light enables the LEDway Series to address large multi-lane freeways and expressway applications, easily replacing inefficient High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting up to 400W from a single platform. The Cree® LEDway HO LED street light provides highly focused, directional light at nine adjustable lumen output levels, reducing energy consumption by more than 50 percent compared to outdated HPS street lights in most roadway applications.

A daily household object has taken on a new twist thanks to designers Idan Noyberg and Gal Bulka. They have designed a solar powered clothespin called Lightly which includes a small colored LEDs.

Intematix Corporation announced the commercial availability of ChromaLit® Linear, a remote phosphor offering uniform luminance over any length, high flux density and a sleek, white off-state finish. This product received the Lux Award by Lux Magazine for Light Source Innovation of the Year and recognition by the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) in its Progress Report featuring the most promising new lighting products.

When NC State sought a lighting solution for Wolf Ridge at Centennial, the university’s first residence hall planned for LEED Silver certification, they chose industry-leading LED lighting from Cree, Inc. to help the building achieve the rigorous certification and significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs. Luminaires installed in two of the project’s six buildings are already delivering positive results. Powered by Cree TrueWhite® Technology, the luminaires deliver the industry’s best color quality, creating more inviting and better lit environments for student residents while significantly reducing the school’s operational expenses compared to outdated lighting technologies.

The danger of blue light exposure has been a hot topic in the LED industry as of late. This has overshadowed the energy-efficiency and environmental friendliness that LED lights are known for and has prevented them from becoming more widespread.

The Rainforest of Canada's pacific coast lights up for the holidays with the illuminated Capilano Suspended Bridge Park.

Cree, Inc. marks another milestone in LED lighting with the introduction of the new Cree® LED 75-watt Replacement Bulb. 

EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, has introduced the EVG®720 automated UV nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) system. Providing full-field imprint lithography with an integrated soft stamp/template fabrication capability, the EVG720 system enables throughputs of more than 60 wafers per hour with the lowest cost of ownership (CoO). Capable of printing nanostructures as small as 40 nm in diameter over a large area in volume production, the EVG720 system is ideally suited for use in manufacturing optics, photonics, LEDs, and other bioMEMS devices. 

Haberdashery, a United Kingdom-based design agency, recently announced the launch of Laserpod 2, one of its newest cool Kickstarter projects. Laserpod 2 is a 100-percent safe, battery-powered laser light sculpture that produces interestingly shaped beam-splitting optics.

Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. has added to its series of STAR LED heat sinks designed for convection cooling of high heat flux LEDs. Each of the 32 heat sinks provides enhanced heat transfer for effective LED cooling without fans or blowers.

There are many applications including restaurant lighting, high-end retail lighting, and hospitality lighting where color-changing RGB LED and white LED light can be used to create unique lighting environments.

NSF I-Corps saw promise in the work of a team of about a dozen ASU engineering doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to make a significant advance in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology.

Australian man takes Christmas light decorations to the extreme, breaking the world record with other half a million LED Christmas lights strung around his property, according to Digital Trends.

With continual falls in large sized backlight LED TV prices, penetration rates for direct-view type LED TV (aka Chubby TV) is expected to grow in 2014. EMC lead frame drivers have advantages in 1-3W power range, and is expected to lead the mid to high power market. It is also the most commonly used LED chip in direct-view type LED TV. However, with improvements in PCT lead frame driver power output to 1-1.2W, manufacturers are also launching PCT products for direct-view type LED backlight TV. 

Providing quality illumination through a sophisticated LED lighting system, the Evolve™ LED Canopy Light is ideal for outdoor lighting that must hold up in hot summer days and cold rainy nights. The new GE Lighting fixture meets illumination requirements for such under-canopy applications as gas stations and convenience stores.

Using an LED lighting solution from Lumenpulse, the Kennedy Space Center has become the first museum to display a space shuttle in full flight mode. Suspending the space shuttle Atlantis 30 feet in the air, the museum's new exhibit uses advanced lighting techniques to reveal the orbiter as it would appear in space.