Kateeva today announced that it has closed its Series D round with US $38 million in financing. The newest participant is Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC). Existing investors also contributed. They include: Sigma Partners, Spark Capital, Madrone Capital Partners, DBL Investors, New Science Ventures, and VEECO Instruments, Inc.

Integrated System Technologies (IST) Limited, a leading British manufacturer of smart lighting solutions, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Chinese Patent Office have granted patents covering high efficiency LED luminaires for downlight applications.

Osram is launching the world's first product based on organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) for car interiors in the form of a new reading lamp. The OLED Reading Light consists of a high-quality matt aluminum housing and provides a very warm and uniform light. "With the launch of the Osram OLED Reading Light in the fall we are once again providing evidence of our technological leadership and powers of innovation in the automotive lighting sector", said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of the Osram Specialty Lighting Business Unit.

Samsung Electronics reinforces its linear type LED modules line-up with M series and F series, which have a high lumen density and highly efficacy offering tremendous convenience to LED lighting fixture makers with one of the most reliable and design-friendly feature-sets in the industry.

Cree introduces the XLamp® MH-B LED, a new generation of high-power LEDs that delivers better performance and a more-effective way to achieve low-cost systems than mid-power (MP) LEDs. Using Cree’s high-reliability ceramic package technology, the XLamp MH-B LED is able to operate at higher temperatures than MP LEDs with no reduction in rated lifetime, enabling an impressive 60 percent reduction in heat-sink size and cost. Using up to 26 times fewer LEDs than MP LEDs to achieve the same level of performance.

Alpha, the world leader in the production of electronic soldering and bonding materials in collaboration with Multek, a global supplier of rigid and flexible printed circuits, will present a technical paper on mid-power LED package assembly on PET substrates, at the upcoming 2014 SMTAI show to be held in Rosemont, Illinois.

Zodiac Pool Systems, Inc. (Zodiac) has announced general availability of its new LED color landscape lights under the Jandy® Pro Series WaterColors product line. In addition, it has also introduced ETL-certified Wet Area LED lights which may be installed within 10 feet of the pool or spa. 

When it comes Smart LED light bulbs, which can be dimmed and made to change colour, the most popular product must be Philips Hue, using the Zigbee protocol, which you can control via iOS and Android devices though a Zigbee gateway, and costs about £50 on Amazon. Alternatives have started to show up such as LIFX, with WIFI technology, that you can control with recent iOS and Android device without the need for a gateway, but with a price starting at £80. 

Refond Optoelectronics recently announced its largest shareholder and company CEO Gong Weibin has sold out 5 million stocks, or about 2.29 percent of shares on Sept. 11, 2014, according to a Securities Times report.

Much to Apple fans dismay last week, the nearly indestructible sapphire glass covers were not found on any of the iPhone 6 models. Many were scratching their heads and wondering why.

Roshow Technology is under China’s Securities Regulatory Commission’s (CSRC) watchful eye for violating financial regulations again, according to a National Business Daily report. In April, the company’s former Board Secretary Chai Shen was arrested for suspected insider trading.

DOE has published a new report forecasting the energy savings of LED white-light sources compared with conventional white-light sources. The sixth iteration of the Energy Savings Forecast of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications compares the annual lighting energy consumption in the U.S. with and without further market penetration of LED lighting. 

New research reported in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is showing that daylight-deprived workers are literally losing sleep. This can mean poor performance at work and changes in attitude, memory and metabolism, say the study’s authors.

How important is lighting design for restaurants? Does lighting affect the dining experience?

Faithful Apple fans stood in awe as Tim Cook demonstrated the new iPhone 6 and Apple Watch at Tuesday’s Special Event. The iPhone 6 met most analysts’ expectations that the sapphire screen would be absent. What was surprising was the larger iPhone Plus did make it to the show, while the rumored 12.9-inch iPad wasn’t to be seen. Other developments included the sapphire-glass encased Apple smart watch, which has become the Cupertino company’s first personalized gadget. For more please see below.

Supported by favorable government policies China’s LED industry initiated a new round of financing during the first half of 2014, according to a Chinese-language report by Consumption Daily. Innovative technology and new products released by the LED lighting industry led to rising developments. Spurred on by strong demands throughout the supply chain, listed LED manufacturers reported high revenues. 

 GlacialLight, the lighting division of GlacialTech Inc., introduces the newest model in its Arcturus Bay Light series. The GL-BL30 is a durable LED low bay light that uses 30W of electricity to produce up to 3200 lumens. With a highly efficient CoB LED, the GL-BL30 sips energy while illuminating indoor spaces at 107 Lumens per Watt.

AIXTRON, a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, has teamed up with research institution Fraunhofer IISB (Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology) in Erlangen, Germany, to develop 150 mm Silicon Carbide (SiC) epitaxy processes using the new AIXTRON 8x150 mm G5WW Vapor Phase Epitaxy (VPE) system. 

LED streetlights are known to be bright, sometimes too bright that UK and U.S. residents have complained glare from LEDs disrupted sleeping patterns. In a recent turn of events, though, residents in Taiwan and India have reported the LED streetlights were too dim, and were underperforming in brightness compared to previous generation lights.

LG Chem has developed the world’s first OLED light panel with high luminous efficacy and long-lasting performance that can compete with LED lights, according to a report from The Korea Herald.

Lighten high performance COB offering, ultra-high power, high Ra value & high efficiency.

Access Fixtures has announced the expansion of its LED High Bay product line with new high output high bay lights. The newest LED high bays use as little as 32w of energy while emitting over 4400 lumens. The highest wattage available is 315w and produces over 44,000 lumens. 

PNC Arena, home to the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, will usher in a new era for professional sports this season as the first NHL venue in the U.S. to feature LED lighting. The Centennial Authority has invested US $650,000 in the innovative new system. 

LED industry development has picked up pace in recent years as cities promote highly energy efficient lighting, according to a Securities Times report. Among global LED lighting applications, lighting and automotive lighting industries have been the fastest growing markets, and have become the main growth drivers in the LED industry.

The market speculated whether GE will sell its lighting division after the company recently sold the home appliance division for US $3.3 billion to Swedish company Electrolux, according to a Lighting report.

A smart headlight developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute enables drivers to take full advantage of their high beams without fear of blinding oncoming drivers or suffering from the glare that can occur when driving in snow or rain at night.

Everlight Electronics, a leading player in the global LED and optoelectronics industry, supplements its LED Lighting product portfolio, currently featuring a market-standard CRI of >80Ra, with higher color quality versions. The new Natural Light LED variants will provide a CRI >95Ra, averaging 98Ra. EVERLIGHT is pursuing this goal a step at a time. 

U.S. retail residential electricity prices for the first half of 2014 averaged 12.3 cents per kilowatthour, an increase of 3.2 percent from the same period last year. This is the highest year-over-year growth in residential prices for the first half of the year since 2009. Average prices rose in all areas of the country except for the Pacific Census Division (excluding Alaska and Hawaii).

The continuous increase in power usage within the country has resulted in electricity related sectors coming out to promote a reduction in electricity consumption, so as to create a stable power supply throughout Thailand.

CEA-Leti and LUCIOM, which develops visible-light communication using light-emitting diodes (LEDs), have launched a project to develop high-data-rate LiFi transceivers. With this technology, LUCIOMexpects to offer in mid-2015 one of the first high-data-rate bidirectional light-fidelity, or LiFi, products that can work with different LED lighting sources, and on mobile devices.