Soraa, the world leader in the development of advanced lighting products and gallium nitride on gallium nitride (GaN on GaN™) LED technology, announced it will open a new semiconductor fabrication plant in Syracuse, New York. In partnership with the State of New York, the company will construct a new state-of-the-art GaN on GaN™ LED fabrication facility that will employ hundreds of workers. Working in coordination with SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE), the new facility is on pace for shell completion by the end of this year with production beginning in the second half of 2016. Soraa currently operates an LED fabrication plant in Fremont, California, one of only a few in the U.S.

Acuity Brands announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the equity interests of Juno Lighting LLC (“Juno Lighting Group”), a leading provider of downlighting and track lighting fixtures for both residential and commercial applications. Juno Lighting Group, a unit of Schneider Electric, serves customers throughout North America, including electrical distributors, lighting showrooms, homecenters, contractors, architects, engineers, lighting designers and commercial facilities. Juno Lighting Group operates manufacturing facilities in Des Plaines, Illinois, and Fishers, Indiana, and generates current annual revenues of approximately $250 million.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a solid-state lighting (SSL) R&D funding opportunity on October 29, 2015. Under this funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001364, “Solid-State Lighting Advanced Technology R&D—2016”), a total of up to $10.5 million in funding is directed toward all three existing DOE SSL R&D program areas: 

Supporters of LightFreq, a smart LED bulb integrated with speakers, have not received the product, despite being overdue for eight months, reported TNW news recently.

A vibrant wave of pink has invaded beautiful Quebec City renowned for its old-world charm. In the last few years, Quebec City has been working diligently on becoming the most illuminated city in the world. In October 2015, they accomplished quite an exploit. Quebec City is lighting up pink for breast cancer awareness like no other city in the world.

Today’s smart home market is anything but simple—it’s very fragmented with no clear platform winner. GE wants to make it easy for consumers to use smart LED lighting, while ensuring interoperability and a positive user experience. GE today announced its first connected LEDs designed for sleep and everyday illumination—called C by GE—that can be controlled without using a smart hub.

Philips today marked World Psoriasis Day with the launch of Philips BlueControl 2.0, the second generation of its innovative wearable medical device1 that uses UV-free blue LED light to control symptoms of mild to moderate cases of plaque psoriasis2. After its successful launch in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK end of last year, and France earlier this year, the new generation of this clinically tested3,4 medical device has been developed based on user insights and feedback. Philips BlueControl 2.0 is now also available in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland and will be introduced in the coming months to Poland, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Hong Kong. New markets like Israel and Italy will follow in the course of 2016.

Venture Lighting Europe has created a brand new, advanced retrofit LED solution for street lighting with exceptional benefits for Local Authorities. The company has created the VLED Westminster module, incorporating its very latest lighting technology SUPRAX® glass optic, as a retrofit solution for street lighting luminaires. Resulting in highly efficient lumen packages, this solution offers unrivalled energy savings.

Pixelligent, the leader in high-index materials, announced today the development of a new OLED light extraction technology that dramatically increases light output in their customer's OLED Lighting devices. Pixelligent founder and chief technology officer, Dr. Gregory Cooper, presented the new technology at the 17th Annual OLEDs World Summit.

Toshiba confirmed in a company statement on Wednesday that it will be withdrawing from white LED production by late March 2016, according to reports from Nikkei and other Japanese media.

Left bleeding from price wars over the past few years, LED manufacturers are seeking alternative markets and restructuring business strategies. Epistar for instance is looking into niche markets including GaN power devices and specialized lighting, said Carson Hsieh,Vice President, R&D Center,Epistar during his presentation at LEDforum 2015, which took place recently at Room 201, National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

Today OPPLE Lighting and Seaborough announced the signing of a technical cooperation agreement (TCA) which is the initial step towards the production of the world’s first universally interchangeable LED light tube; the oneTLed. The agreement was signed by Paul van Doorn, CEO of Seaborough and Martijn van Rheenen CEO of Momentum Capital, the Private Equity group behind Seaborough. For OPPLE Jeroen Janssen, Managing Director Europe and group CTO, Qi Xiao Ming, signed the contract. The signing took place during an official state visit dinner in Shanghai in the presence of His Majesty King Willem Alexander and the Dutch Minister of foreign Affairs, Koenders.

The world’s second largest decorative luminaire lighting show, The Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition), kicked off on Oct. 27 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. In its 17th year, the four day lighting show was mainly split into two themes “The Hall of Aurora” and “World of Outdoor Lighting and Lighting Accessories.”

Leyard Optoelectronic announced that the company is to launch private placement of 120 million shares to raise about RMB 1.98 billion (US $312 million). The company will utilize RMB 1 billion to obtain 100% of Planar’s share.

HC SemiTek Corporation announced that its subsidiary Suzhou HC SemiTek Corporation received a RMB 56.4 million (US $8.88 million) subsidy for 3Q15 development from committee of Zhangjiagang Economic and Technological Development Zone.

A national press ad in UK, seen on 24 January 2015, stated “Have you seen the (blue) light? . Did you know that some blue light, from smartphone screens to sunshine, can affect your eyes?...Many modern gadgets, whether it’s a fancy LED TV or your smartphone, as well as sunlight and energy-saving light bulbs, give off a certain kind of blue light that can cause your retinal cells to deteriorate over time. Boots Opticians can help you protect your eyes from harmful blue light, reducing damage to retinal cells. For GBP 70 (US $106.82), new Boots Protect Plus Blue lenses come with a special finish that filters out the harmful blue light and eases eye strain and fatigue”.

Dow Corning Corp. today announced third quarter sales of US $1.39 billion and net income of $72 million. Adjusted net income in the third quarter decreased 1% to $108 million. Through the three quarters, Dow Corning's adjusted net income, which excludes unusual items, has increased 6 percent despite decreased sales impacted largely by the strong United States dollar.

Almost 30 years ago, Nike was asked to collaborate on a movie that would feature scenes set in the futuristic world of 2015. The brand was challenged to imagine sneakers that would suit the inhabitants of the advanced era. The innovation team, which regularly looks into a crystal ball of athlete insight and technology to project the future of sport, took that task further.

Resta Peth, a region in Pune City in the state of Maharashtra, India, has rolled out its LED bulb distribution scheme, reported The Times of India.

LED filaments instead of tungsten wire. Osram Opto Semiconductors presents the Soleriq L 38, the first filament LED in its product range. The long thin shape of the LEDs provides the basis for filament lamps which, in terms of their appearance and their emission characteristics, are more than a match for their incandescent lamp predecessors. The Soleriq LEDs offer an extremely uniform color appearance and quality of light, creating a pleasant atmosphere. They are therefore ideal for aesthetic lighting applications in the home and in hotels and restaurants.

Luminis (www.luminis.com), an established innovator and manufacturer of specification grade lighting solutions today announced the release of Syrios Square. An addition to the existing Syrios family of award-winning exterior luminaires, the Syrios Square series delivers the same high performance and clean aesthetic in a new housing shape.

Councillors have approved plans to upgrade street lights across Edinburgh, saving the city an estimated GBP 77 million (US $117.56 million) over the next 20 years.

Zumtobel has delivered a new architectural lighting scheme for Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History. As a Grade I listed building, the design and installation process was challenging; however the performance of the LED products, the expertise of Zumtobel and a collaborative approach from the project team has resulted in a spectacular lighting solution that meets the complex requirements of the space.

tLight Ltd. today launches its tLight S3i LED desk light with powerful true-color light output and charging dock for recharging all iPhone and iPods with Lightning connector. With the additional USB port the tLight can also recharge other tablets and most smartphones.

Financial scandals this year has pressured Toshiba to speed up the restructure of its less profitable businesses. Following the confirmation on Wednesday that it will be selling its CMOS sensor business to Sony, market rumors have pointed to the company’s intention to withdraw its white LED business, which has incurred consecutive losses. The company might withdraw from discrete component businesses, reported Japanese media Asahi Shimbun.

Most speakers highlighted niche market applications including UV LED, IR LED and automotive lighting market applications and opportunities, during the afternoon session of LEDforum 2015 this year, which took place last Friday at National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

Rapid developments in lighting technology are shifting driver demands, said David Lucchetti, Director of Marketing and Application Industrial, Power and Discrete Group Greater China and South Asia Region, STMicroelectronics at LEDforum 2015, which took place recently in Taipei, Taiwan.

The City of Martinsville located in the state of Virginia in U.S. plans to upgrade LED streetlight and electric water meters, reported WSLS 10. The project will cost the city US $7.9 million in total, and is still waiting for approval from the city council.

Amerlux CEO and President Chuck Campagna has announced a partnership withEnlighted, Inc., the leading provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for commercial buildings and retail applications. The agreement will enable integration of the most intelligent and advanced lighting sensors and controls with innovative LED lighting fixtures from Amerlux.

Jordan Sullivan, marketing communications co-op at Philips Lighting, interviews U.S. designer Vicki Scuri about her public lighting art works in this latest blog entry.