In June 2016 NICHIA commenced a lawsuit claiming that certain white LED-containing products sold by B&Q plc, the largest DIY company in the UK, and sourced from third-party Asian manufacturers infringed Nichia's European “YAG” patents.

Chinese LED lighting company Yaming Lighting appointed Ayhan Siriner as the new general manager for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as part of its regional deployment strategy.

Cree appoints Daniel Castillo as President, Lighting, effective Nov. 7, 2016. In this role, Castillo will report to Chuck Swoboda and will lead both the commercial and consumer lighting businesses. Castillo joins Cree from Eaton Corporation, where he was most recently Senior Vice President, Oil, Gas and IEC Assemblies. Prior to his work at Eaton, Castillo held leadership roles in lighting and other electrical product areas at both Cooper Industries and General Electric.

"Great in Optics –Small in Size!" The growing core of the “PolyPhoton- ics” Innovation Initiative will take this motto to the global communica- tions market. The project is part of the “Regional Enterprise Initiative”of the German Federal Ministry of Research. The consortium develops the value chain for the creation of a new technology platform. The Fraunho- fer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI coordinates the project.

The Queen Creek Tunnel on US 60 east of Superior now has a LED lighting system, making it Arizona’s first tunnel to have this innovative and energy-saving technology.

Philips Lighting, a global leader in Lighting, and Atletico Madrid announced an agreement to supply the lighting of the club’s new stadium in the Spanish capital. Under the agreement, Philips Lighting becomes Atletico Madrid’s official lighting partner for the next four seasons where the new stadium will be the first in the world to benefit from Philips ArenaExperience. With the Philips ArenaExperience multi-purpose LED stadia lighting system, Atletico Madrid will harness the power of lighting to create a lasting impression for its visitors, both outside and inside the stadium. The system will encompass LED lighting for the pitch, stadium façade and hospitality areas. 

LuminAID co-founders Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta were architecture students in 2010 when they were inspired to design a new kind of solar light in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. They invented LuminAID’s patented solar inflatable technology, creating a compact, rechargeable solar lantern that packs flat and inflates into a lightweight, waterproof light source. Since then, LuminAID has been innovating and expanding their technology to new applications, including the camping and emergency preparedness markets, but Anna and Andrea have always had Haiti on the back of their minds. As news of the devastation in Haiti becomes apparent in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, LuminAID and its charitable partners are working to help those affected by the storm who are in need of safe, sustainable lighting. This is especially meaningful for Anna and Andrea, as it gives them another chance to give back to the people of Haiti, their original inspiration.

Osram has been very active over the last past months, and recent market rumors have resurfaced about interested Chinese buyers. This time the rumored acquisitor is its Chinese rival San’an Opto, who will mostly be looking into merging Osram Opto, according to LEDinside sources. San’an Opto is rumored to be offering a generous EUR 7.2 billion for the German LED company, but there are also some estimating the German company can fetch a sales price of nearly EUR 8 billion.

A German research alliance with well-known members from industry and research has developed the basis for smart, high resolution LED headlights, which takes adaptive forward lighting to a new dimension. The demonstration model was developed by overall project manager Osram in collaboration with the project partners Daimler, Fraunhofer, Hella and Infineon. Both headlights contain three LED light sources, each with 1,024 individually controllable light points (pixels). This means that the headlight can be adapted very precisely to suit the respective traffic situation to ensure optimum light conditions at all times without dazzling other drivers. 

Effective Oct. 4, 2016, Osram, a leading global lighting and technology company, has successfully completed the acquisition of Novità Technologies, a U.S. manufacturer of automotive LED modules which are used primarily in tail lights, fog lights and daytime running lights. With this move, Osram will further expand its position in the U.S. automotive LED market. “The successful closing of this transaction is a further step in our strategy to strengthen our leading position in automotive lighting and to expand our LED automotive portfolio for project business,” said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of the Specialty Lighting business unit. 

Panasonic recently showcased an improved version of a transparent TV at IFA in Berlin in early September, reported Engadget.

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Municipality and Philips Lighting today announced the launch of the Dubai Lamp, the world’s most energy efficient commercially available LED lamp.* The announcement was made at the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) in Dubai. 

Cree announces the new XLamp XQ-E and XP-E High Efficiency (HE) Photo Red LEDs, the industry’s highest performing LEDs optimized for horticulture. The new LEDs deliver up to 21 percent higher output than the previous generations of XQ-E and XP-E Photo Red LEDs, enabling hrticulture lighting manufacturers to deliver higher performance products, reduce luminaire size and lower system cost.

As key providers of leading edge process technology equipment for HBLED manufacture, Oxford Instruments has been a major part of the HBLED industry since its very beginning. Now the company’s systems are being used to facilitate the introduction of UV LEDs, being utilised in water purification systems to bring safe drinking water to remote places.

Chinese LED chip manufacturer San’an Opto is in talks of acquiring Osram group, German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported Thursday, without indicating information sources.The acquisition talks are more than just business transacations, but reveal Chinese government's industry policies, analyzed LEDinside.

Prices of LED light bulbs were steady through September as the global LED market picked up significantly and LED chip prices remained stable, according to the latest report by LEDinside, a division of TrendForce.   “The global average sales price (ASP) of 40-watt equivalent LED light bulbs fell 1.3% in September compared with the prior month to US$9.3, while the global ASP of 60-watt equivalent LED light bulbs dropped 0.9% monthly to US$12.7,” said LEDinside analyst Allen Yu.

Osram has gained the services of Thorsten Müller as its new Head of Innovation and Research. The 39-year-old is currently the CEO of the Connected Devices and Solutions division at Bosch and will take up his new position as Head of Corporate Innovation at Osram on December 1, 2016. “Thorsten Müller is an acknowledged expert on the Internet of Things”, said Stefan Kampmann, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of OSRAM Licht AG. “He will provide us with valuable impetus for the ongoing digitization and connectivity in the lighting industry and drive forward our transformation into a high-tech company.”

Sony is known for its technology in displays, TVs, and other consumer electronics, but its latest gadget unveiled recently in Japan is focusing on LED grow light technology, according to reports by Nikkei Technology and other tech media.

Neutrogena launched an economic LED facial mask on Monday that uses red and blue LEDs that can treat acne on people’s faces, reportedEliteDaily.

With the rise in wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers that rely on smart sensors, and the continued popularity of smartphones, smart devices are taking our country by storm. Wireless data for such devices is typically beamed through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, yet, the new wireless communication technology of "visible light communication (VLC)," has emerged as a new option albeit with limitations due to the challenges it faces in practice, such as being easily blocked or not being able to sustain transmission when light is off. Through a new Dartmouth project called "DarkLight," researchers have developed and demonstrated for the first-time, how visible light can be used to transmit data even when the light appears dark or off. DarkLight provides a new communication primitive similar to infrared communication, however, it exploits the LED lights already around us rather than needing additional infrared emitters.

Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, announced that the Philips Hue connected lighting system is a debut partner with Google’s new voice activated speaker, Google Home. The speaker is powered by the Google assistant that answers your questions and helps you get things done. Customers in the US will be able to use Google Home to control their lights. This integration makes Philips Hue the first connected lighting system that can be used with all of the leading smart home platforms.

The skater scene at the new skate park in Karlsruhe, Germany enthuses about ideal preconditions for spectacular recordings in super slow-motion thanks to innovative lighting from Osram. The new Floodlight 20 generation of LED floodlights guarantees not only perfect lighting conditions for the stunts of skaters, inliners and BMX riders but also enables the flicker-free recording of skating tricks in super slow-motion for training purposes or for sharing on Facebook, Instagram and Co.

The LUXEON 5050 multi-die LED provides the most cost effective solution for high efficacy outdoor fixtures, high and low bay fixtures and indoor directional lamps with a single light source.

Cree expands the Essentia® by Cree product portfolio with the new LED Surface Wrap.  The new product delivers best-in-class efficacy at 115 lumens per watt (LPW) and expands the Essentia by Cree portfolio, which provides customers with exceptional light quality and one-vendor convenience across entire lighting projects. 

Elemental LED, a U.S. based engineering and technology company that manufactures LED lighting solutions announced that its offering HYDROLUME® as a one of a kind, fully submersible LED strip light that is certified by Underwriters Laboratories as a UL Listed Underwater Luminaire. Elemental LED with its manufacturing and wholesale division, Diode LED, provides a wide variety of superior-quality linear, task, and accent LED lighting solutions for both commercial and residential applications.

Leti, an institute of CEA Tech, announced today it has joined the Stanford SystemX Alliance, a network of 100 renowned Stanford University professors and 27 world-class companies, joining forces in a pre-competitive environment to define tomorrow’s research strategies. Leti’s participation bridges the gap between two worlds – academia and industry.

Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, today announced a new addition to the Philips Lightolier portfolio of products with the debut of the Philips Lightolier Calculite LED Generation 3 downlight.

Elemental LED, a leading U.S. based engineering and technology company that manufactures LED lighting solutions, announced today a strategic partnership with Nora Lighting to meet the growing demand for the innovative and award winning SWITCHEX®, the first combination LED driver and LED dimmer switch.  Elemental LED and its manufacturing and wholesale division, Diode LED, provides a wide variety of superior quality linear, task, and accent LED lighting solutions for both commercial and residential applications.

DECO Lighting released the low-profile Gladetino LED Area Luminaire on July 18, 2016 and is proud to announce that it has achieved unparalleled performance in the LED area lighting arena. Featuring a sleek, futuristic design, the Gladetino luminaire excels in performance due to superior thermal management and delivers crisp, controlled illumination at up to 146 lumens per watt. This DLC Premium listed figure is an industry-first in a high-powered LED area lighting fixture, surpassing similar products from top competitors by attaining performance that is up to 40% more energy efficient. With a wide variety of technical innovations packed into the low-profile housing, the Gladetino luminaire sets the new standard in area lighting.

A new $200 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan will finance installation of millions of energy-efficient lights in streets and homes and energy-efficient water pumps in farms across India, leading to energy savings of around 3,800 gigawatt-hours per year, equivalent to the annual output of two 300-megawatt coal-fired power stations.