Philips Electronics announces that the 2009-2010 holiday season marks the company’s 10th anniversary as the official Lighting Partner to the world-famous Times Square Ball. And for the first time, Philips has converted the companion Times Square Ball Numerals (2-0-1-0) to all LED technology.

Cree, Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, announced EasyWhite™ bins, an LED innovation that both simplifies LED system design and improves LED-to-LED color consistency. EasyWhite bins are offered in 3500 K, 3000 K and 2700 K color temperatures and are 75 percent smaller than the ANSI C78.377 standard color regions.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors today announced completion of the construction of its new LED chip production plant in Penang, Malaysia. Two years after the ground-breaking ceremony in July 2007, the last installation work has been completed and the test phase successfully concluded in the plant which is claimed to be the most modern LED chip production facility in the world. The routine manufacture of LED chips is thus set to run at full speed from now on.

Exar Corporation unveiled the XRP6840, the industry's highest intensity LED flash driver with full management of supercapacitor based flash technology. The XRP6840 delivers up to 4.3Amps flash pulse which is ideal for high resolution mobile phone cameras and standalone digital cameras.

Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH will distribute the entire product portfolio of Bright LED Electronics Corp. (Brtled) throughout Europe. In doing so, Rutronik extends its product range of visible and invisible LEDs. Brtled products combine first-class quality with an attractive price-performance ratio.

The LED technology from Enfis Ltd. enabled realisation of iconic structure in Abu Dhabi, the Yas Hotel. The hotel is unique as the only one in the world with a race track running through its centre. Of architectural and engineering significance is the main feature of the project design, a 217-meter expanse of sweeping, curvilinear forms constructed of steel and over 5,300 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels which are illuminated via a sophisticated LED lighting system from Enfis Group Plc.

Simon Property Group Inc. announced that it has taken another step towards "greening" its malls in the Northeast region of the U.S. From New Jersey to New Hampshire, nearly 650 carts and kiosks in 29 malls have been retrofitted with 10,000 energy efficient SoL(TM) LED MR16 lamps from Lighting Science Group Corporation.

Aeon Lighting Technology Inc. (ALT), a manufacturer of high power LED lighting products, announced that one of its indoor lighting products, the Aurora MR16, has won the coveted iF Product Design Award 2010, known as the “Design Oscar.” Aurora MR16’s outstanding performance and excellent design was one of 2,489 entries from 39 countries, and one that stands out once more, following the recognition of M Technology Award received last month.

One years ago, Philips announced Light Blossom, it transforms the personality of any community from industrial to ecological, harmonizing forces of nature and working with the planet, not against it. Light Blossom collects its own energy from the sun and wind by transforming its appearance throughout the day. At night, its efficient LEDs beam light only where needed - and only when needed - through proximity sensing.

Semtech Corp., a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, announced the SC652 and SC656 LED backlight charge pump drivers. As new members of the SC65x tiny charge pump platform, these devices are the industry’s first LED drivers to integrate digital low-pass filters that convert a PWM dimming signal’s duty-cycle into DC current for LCD backlighting with white LEDs.

In an effort to reach the goal of saving 1 billion kilowatt-hour of electrical power a year, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology has recently revised a bold plan to expand the LED streetlight installation project in 21 cities to two million units in 50 cities throughout the country, according to an article on Taiwan Economic News.

Larson Electronics’ magnalight.com announced the addition of the MRL-1000HPS-EB 1000 watt high pressure sodium (HPS) light with remote ballast. Equipped with remote ballast, this HPS saltwater certified light is much lighter than traditional high wattage fixtures. This high pressure sodium marine grade light is also easier to maintain as well, since the most critical components are secured in a separate NEMA enclosure.

In Regensburg, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and Siemens have demonstrated that energy-saving LEDs can provide authentic period-style lighting for a historical centre. The companies have developed a retrofit solution which meets the requirements of a modern lighting system while preserving the atmosphere of a world heritage site. The light sources being used are Golden Dragon Plus LEDs.

Cree, Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, announces the commercial availability of new, high-efficiency white XLamp® XP-E LEDs. These “outdoor white” LEDs provide the same flux and efficacy levels as Cree’s XLamp cool white LEDs with a neutral color that more closely matches existing high-intensity discharge (HID) installations (4000K – 5300K CCT).

AIXTRON AG announced today that in the second quarter 2009 HUGA Co., Ltd placed an order for six AIX 2800G4 HT MOCVD reactors in the 42x2 inch configuration. They will be delivered in the fourth quarter 2009 and installed at the company's state of the art production facility in the Taichung Science Park, Taiwan.

To increase road safety, the European Commission has recently proposed the regulation on Daytime Running Light (DRL) for all new motor vehicles. The regulation, which is planned to go into effect from 2011, could bring immense growth opportunity for the market of LEDs for automotive lighting applications, said Huang Ziyuan, marketing manager of Osram’s Asia-Pacific Area at the LEDforum 2009.

The publication of relevant criteria for LED lighting will be of vital importance for the development of LED industry, said Lee Soo Ghee, Cree’s Vice President / General Manager Asia Pacific, at the LEDforum 2009. With the criteria set up, the quality of LED lighting will get controlled and standardized, which is expected to accelerate the promotion of LED lighting as well as more quickly realize the substantial drop in cost of energy saving, he said.

ViewSonic® Corp. Monday expanded its green product line with two new Energy Star® 5.0 compliant monitors -- the VX1932wm-LED and VA705b.

Avago Technologies, a supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications, announced an innovative ultra-thin, high brightness, light guide film (LGF) technology for backlighting mobile applications such as cell phones, handheld games and GPS applications. According to the company, the new light guide technology will help designers reduce the number of LEDs needed to illuminate backlit keypad applications without compromising brightness and light uniformity.

Taiwan’s Inventec Corp., the world’s fourth-largest notebook PC maker, has spent NT$540 million (US$16.61 million at US$1: NT$32.5) to buy a 4.9% stake in the island’s leading LED maker Huga Optotech Inc., according to Taiwan Economic News.

Carmanah Technologies and PTL Solar(TM) announced a manufacturing partnership that will bring leading-edge solar LED lighting technology to the Middle East and selected countries in Africa. PTL Solar and Carmanah have partnered to manufacture solar LED lighting solutions for outdoor lighting applications at a facility under ENPARK in Dubai.

Mitsubishi Electric announces that it will reveal LED option for its Seventy Series range of cube displays at ISE 2010. The new LED cube engine is fully compatible with the existing Seventy Series cube chassis and hardware, offering users an easy upgrade path from conventional to solid-state lighting.

The improvement of LED lighting efficiency has been amazing in the past few years. One important revolution of this century is going to be installing LED into everyone’s life, replacing traditional light bulbs. LED displays first appeared in the solid light source revolution, and now, it is everywhere, such as shopping district, sport stadium, high way, and wherever the electricity can reach. These huge LED displays stand themselves as the early indication of the LED revolution.

Taiwan’s Delta Electronics Inc. plans to close its cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) operations from March 1, 2010, due to the growing use of LED for backlights in applications such as LCD TVs, according to an article on Taiwan Economic News.

Eastman Kodak Company announced Dec. 4 that it would sell substantially all the assets associated with its OLED business to a group of LG companies, and had entered into a technology cross-license agreement with LG Electronics, Inc., which will allow each company broad access to the other’s patent portfolio.  

After releasing three draft editions, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published the final ENERGY STAR Eligibility Criteria for integral LED lamps on December 4, 2009. The new Energy Star criteria will go into effect as of August 31, 2010.

Instrument Systems GmbH introduces its new calibration LEDs to its ACS-530 Series. The special feature of the new products is their temperature-stabilized high-power LED, according to the company. The new calibration LEDs enable customers to check their instruments easily and reliably. It also means that the photometric value can be recalibrated by customers in conformity with the CIE International Commission on Illumination.

On Nov, 25th at the LEDforum 2009, Dr. Ruan Jun, Deputy Secretary General of China Solid State Lighting Alliance, made a speech on the cross-strait industrial cooperation between mainland China and Taiwan. Under the principle of establishing mutual trust, seeking common grounds and creating a win-win situation, the two sides will work together to establish a characteristic mechanism of cooperation in both technology and industry of Solid State Lighting (SSL).

Japan is the birthplace of LED outdoor lighting including LED ambient lights, LED night safety street lights, which help to reduce crime, and other novel lighting fixtures.

3XN has designed an LED luminaire – GOTHAM, which uses solar energy for efficient street lighting. Seven lamps have been erected at Bella Center in Copenhagen in conjunction with the upcoming UN Climate Summit The street lamp is a result of a close co-operation between 3XN, Scotia Lighting, EWO and a number of other partners.  The goal was to create a sculptural and CO2-neutral street lighting solution.  The advanced technology results in the street lamps generating more energy than they use.