Police often use tasers, rubber bullets and pepper spray to control riots and crowds out of control. But there could soon be a new weapon in their arsenal, a high-tech flashlight - with a big punch. The device called a "LED Incapacitator" causes 'flash blindness' or a nauseated, disoriented feeling. Dr. Robert Liebermen is president of Intelligent Optical Systems. The California company has an $800,000 contract from the Department of Homeland Security.

It's reported that AU Optronics (AUO) has confirmed it is preparing to produce LEDs in house, with construction of a new plant about to start.

We've likely all experienced the bothersome inconvenience of having to change a light bulb located in a hard-to-reach place. Maybe a lofty porch light burns out, or a chandelier bulb dies. These can be difficult to get to, and many times they are lights that are left on for many hours throughout the day, so they burn out frequently. Luckily, www.besthomeledlighting.com provides a solution in the form of LED light bulbs. This growing technology offers benefits and advantages over standard bulbs in almost every possible category.

It's reported that Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) has introduced an LED-based backlight for use with desktop or notebook PC keyboards that provides brightness and uniformity, along with the opportunity to utilize fewer LEDs, reducing the cost of the backlight.

Using copper and aluminum layers 0.0042" and 0.062" respectively with a dielectric 0.004". thick with a breakdown of 4kVDC, OptoTherm OCB201 Series substrate from Optek has a thermal conductivity of 1.1W/m-°K and a thermal resistance of 1.8°C/W.

The HL-5060/K31C4-12-E linear LED light strip from Guangzhou Hongli Optoelectronic Co. Ltd features an IP67-rated water-resistant casing, flexible printed circuit boards (PCB) and self-adhesive backing.

Kim Lighting, a leading manufacturer of outdoor architectural lighting, has announced an expansion of its  GEM® Performance Bollard line to now include new super bright white LED technology.

The ESL-20 series LED stroboscope is designed to measure the speed of rotating or cycling linear motion objects without contact or reflective tape, as well as freeze motion visually. Built with an aluminum housing and the latest technology, it's compact size, NIMH rechargeable battery and lifetime LED lights make it a perfect choice for use anywhere on the factory floor. The ESL-20 is ideal for speed, motion and vibration analysis, such as rotating shafts, fans, cams, etc. The brightest, fully featured LED stroboscope in a trim, efficient design.

Maxim Integrated Products of Sunnyvale, California USA has introduced the MAX16816, a high-voltage, programmable, high-brightness (HB) LED driver for automotive and general lighting applications.Maxim boasts that the MAX16816's ability to program LED current eliminates the need for binning LEDs according to their brightness variations. The company says the device allows LED current adjustment that can compensate for brightness variations during manufacturing.

LED and CCFL NB have a price gap of 50%, but such gap is expected to narrow soon. LEDinside recently has gathered further information about NB with LED backlight on the market. Until February 2008, prices of LED NB range from US$2,100 to US$3,100, while CCFL NB equipped with similar hardware cost $1,280 to $2,000. CCFL NB and LED NB have a price gap of at least 50% (indicated in Figure 1), says LEDinside. Although with advantages in weights, sizes and energy consumption, it is still quite costly to have an environmental, energy-saving and light LED NB.

Exar Corporation (Nasdaq: EXAR) released a new LED driver with inductive boost capabilities giving system architects additional design options for backlighting applications. The SP6699 is ideal for small display/keypad LED lighting applications found in handheld portable devices such as PDAs, cell phonesand data collection devices.

LEDtronics announced its latest generation of PAR30-Style LED spotlight bulbs. The PAR30 LED bulb is made up of five three-Watt high-power LEDs. PAR30 LED bulbs are direct incandescent PAR30 replacements, combining advanced Light Emitting Diode (LED) technologies, standard 25mm Edison screw-in bases, and light optimizing designs producing 480 to 544 lumens of vivid light depending on the bulb model. PAR30 LED bulbs are available in a 40° light-emitting viewing angle, running on 80V to 260V AC current.

Billboard company executives say LED-lighted billboards are the wave of the future. But several community activists are fighting a proposed change in City of Reno rules that would allow the billboard industry to put up the digital electronic signs.

Maxim Integrated Products (PINKSHEETS: MXIM) introduces the MAX16816, a high-voltage, programmable, high-brightness (HB) LED driver for automotive and general lighting applications. Synopsis for Investor: A. The MAX16816 is specifically tailored to meet the requirements of the latest front light automotive designs, such as high- and low-beam assemblies, adaptive front light systems, daytime running lights    (DRLs), and fog lamps.

In partnership with the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, greenTbiz will host Toronto's first LEDiscovery event on March 25-26th, 2008 as a part of the LightSavers program.

The latest LED technology opens up wide areas for new applications, new technical possibilities and reduced costs. The main advantages of the state of the art LED light sources are:

Sprouting up this spring for the environmentally friendly shopper: a crop of devices touting their green credentials. Two in five adults surveyed by Forrester Research last year said they would consider environmental factors in their next electronics purchase. A similar percentage said they would pay 10 percent more for a television or computer that used less energy.

A new, competitively priced, all-purpose LED lamp designed for boat trailer use has been released by Narva.The Narva Model 36 uses just eight high-powered, light-emitting diodes.This keeps down the cost of each unit and cuts current draw, taking less energy from the battery.Yet light spread and performance remains effective.

It's reported that Leadis Technology Inc. is delivering samples of the LDS8845 and LDS8846, no-noise, highly efficient 4-channel white LED drivers targeting handsets and portable products that use lower-VF white LEDs and lower-cost TFT-LCD modules.

Darfon Electronics expects to ship illuminated notebook keyboards utilizing RGB LEDs, whose thickness is 0.7~0.9mm larger than traditional LEDs, to a Top-3 notebook maker in the second quarter, according to the company.

We recently reported that Thermaltake is going to be expanding into LED technology for the home. However, a quick walk around the CeBIT halls today made it clear that others are also trying to change the way we light our lives. GlacialLight's solution is very much like Thermaltake's but different in one important way - it's not restricted to the standard bulb sizes. With various sizes for different applications, including replacement fluorescent strip lights found in most offices, it seems that GlacialLight is one step ahead of the others.

Beijing Leyard has completed the installation of five LED panels at the Olympic Cultural Squares in Beijing, with each panel measuring around 100m². The company has integrated its color correction technology with Macroblock's MBI5030 16bit pulse width modulation LED driver to achieve higher display performance and enhance color resolution of LED panels.

Altair Engineering, parent company of LED lighting developer ilumisys, has been granted a judgment and permanent injunction against High Tech Global Group Co., Ltd. (HTGG), a Taiwanese manufacturer. Altair brought action against the company when it discovered HTGG was infringing upon Altair's patent for LED-driven replacement lighting for fluorescent lamps.

It's not easy becoming green, but that's not stopping Ferndale from trying. City officials are looking into switching in LED lights into the inner-ring suburb's street lights next year. Why not this year? Money. "It's quite expensive, but we're looking at it," says Jack Crowly, superintendent of Ferndale's public works department.

What is an LED printer? LED printer was firstly invented by the Okidata co. in Japan and has been put into use for a period of time. Currently, it is developed and manufactured mostly by Japanese companies. The cost of LED printer is lower than laser printer, which scans the information onto the rotating drum through light with high energy and fixed wave band.

A light in the parking lot of Bay City Hall shines a little brighter than the rest. It's an LED, or light-emitting diode, that uses a fraction of the power of a standard light and lasts longer, but also costs more upfront. The city is experimenting with the LED parking lot light as a pilot project, and measuring how much energy the light uses, said Phil Newton, acting director of Bay City Light and Power, the city-owned electric utility.

According to Bo Jiansheng, general manager of Philips Taiwan lighting, the market scale of the Taiwan street light market that is being converted to LED lighting applications is expected to exceed NT$1 billion (US$32.46 million), and the company has already gained some installation contracts from local governments in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

Eco Living Centre offers wide range of LED lighting products for use both inside and out, for domestic or commercial use. LED lighting products are key to saving your energy and maintenance costs. As lighting the home and business accounts for a large proportion of Eco Living Centre energy consumption, LED technology is also a way to reduce its CO2 emissions. Here is an easy way to start. Eco Living Centre recommends LEDs to replace high power halogens:High power halogen replacement 10W: