Since their inception in 2004, Spirit Circuits have proven that UK manufacturers who offer innovation in service and delivery can thrive despite economic challenges and foreign competition.

In the Trafford Centre in Manchester UK, LED luminaires from OSRAM’s innovative new range have been used to create a unique shopping experience.

Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH has entered into a pan-European franchise agreement with the USA-based LED specialist Intematix Corporation as their exclusive distribution partner in Europe. Effective immediately, Rutronik will distribute Intematix's entire product portfolio of individual components, arrays, LED modules, control systems, secondary optics and heat sinks.

In Europe cities like Berlin, Prague and Warsaw, the ancient gas street lamps are to be replaced with LED lamps, which will cut power consumption by more than 90% without altering the old-world look or the light quality of the gas-driven fixtures. The retrofit is designed by Berlin-based Braun Schaltgeräte & Service with assistance from LED solutions provider Future Lighting Solutions. And the first eight LED models were recently installed on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz public square.

Researchers at the Technical University of Dresden and Novaled AG have collaborated to create a 90 lm/W OLED luminaire. The OLED has a brightness of 1,000 cd/m2 according to the researchers. The OLED light engine with a 3-D light extraction technology reportedly achieved an efficacy of 124 lm/W.

A riot of color in a compact package - Smallest multicolour LED extends OSRAM product portfolio

Savage Marine, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of lighting to the yacht market has halved the energy consumption of its ultra bright interior and exterior downlighters by adopting state of the art 10W LED technology from Marl to replace halogen lights.

AIXTRON and Semileds has just announced their successful cooperated fabrication of GaN-based blue LED chips on 6-inch sapphire wafers. Not only were optical results encouraging but also the process is sufficiently close to production compatibility that the company should soon be able to reap the rewards from larger wafers.

For those who are interested in creative ideas and innovative technology concepts, the “LED – Emotionalize your light” idea contest to be started online this May will offer an exciting opportunity. Via an easy submission procedure, the participants can put their own light design online, and all the participants will have the chance to win valuable prizes amounting to 7000€.

Zumtobel of Austria and Royal Philips Electronics of The Netherlands have signed a comprehensive, worldwide, cross licensing agreement, under which TridonicAtco and Ledon, the Zumtobel Group’s OEM brands, will become qualified suppliers under the Philips LED-based luminaires licensing program, which is a part of the agreement.

OSRAM Opto has released the new ultra-white Oslon SSL LED in a package measuring just 3 x 3 mm. The Oslon LED has a typical luminous efficacy value of 100 lm/W, and features simplified thermal management, high reliability and a beam angle of 80°. The Oslon LED is an LED in the 1 W class and meets the requirements for use in general lighting, like in spotlights, desk lights and ceiling floodlights.

CIL (Custom Interconnect Limited), a  UK supplier of electronics manufacturing services to the European electronics industry, will display an extensive range of LED based designs on Stand LED46 at the euroLED 2009 to be held at the Ricoh Arena on June 3rd and 4th.  The company will also demonstrate its ability to provide bespoke packaging of both bare-die LEDs and the assembly of pre-packaged parts from manufacturers such as Lumileds, Cree and Osram.

Luminus Devices, developer and manufacturer of PhlatLight® LEDs, and EBV Elektronik, an Avnet Company (NYSE: AVT) specializing in EMEA semiconductor distribution, have just announced a partnership through which EBV will distribute Luminus PhlatLight LEDs to general illumination customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Philips Lumileds today released LUXEON Rebel ES, the world’s first high-efficacy power LED specified to deliver a minimum of 100 lumens per Watt. As the global demand for efficient lighting solutions increases, Philips Lumileds is focusing on the performance characteristics that are most important to the lighting industry. The company’s attention to efficacy makes it simpler to create solid-state lighting solutions that eclipse conventional solution efficiency in many applications such as outdoor and refrigeration.

With the efficiency improvement and technology advancement, the application field of LED has gradually been expanded from the backlight and signal light segments to the Lighting-Class field. To solve the problem of light and heat, the LED manufacturers have put forward their own solutions covering the chip making, packaging and even the light fixture sections by offering products of various specifications.

Toshiba Corporation announced last week in Milan that it will start to launch its new lighting business in Europe and the U.S.  By this summer, the company will set up a marketing base for new lighting business operations in the U.K., Germany and the United States, joining a French operation established earlier this month, to launch a wide range of high efficient lighting products such as LED lamps. The company also targets to further expand the business to India, Russia, Brazil, the Middle East and China in this fiscal year.

The Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics introduced Thursday the world’s first OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) -based interactive lighting concepts during the Euroluce International Lighting Fair in Milan. Interactive in use, the concepts boast ultra flat shapes, soft light-effects and design possibilities never before seen in lighting products, making lighting an experience in itself rather than mere illumination.

The first solid-state street lighting solution in Portugal is to be implemented along the Fidalgo Aprendiz in Pombal City. LUXEON Rebel LEDs from Philips Lumileds, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, are used in the new streetlight developed by BlueSpan, a provider LED lighting solutions. The streetlight's technical design was the result of a cooperative development effort between Philips Lumileds and optics expert Fraen.

Gardasoft Vision in Cambridge, UK, has acquired the worldwide rights to VCube LED Linelight and Traffic Monitoring lights. The liquid-cooled VLX2 Linelights feature brightness many times higher than that of conventional air-cooled LED linelights. They can be applied in linescan applications such as printing, paper, plastic film, or web inspection up to 4 m wide.

This new concept of Novague, the Prague-based design studio, is a power independent rocking chair which can produce power from the chair’s rocking motion to light the LED reading lamp.

Instrument Systems, a leading global manufacturer of LED Test & Measurement systems has recently developed its ISP 1000 Integrating Sphere which has been specially designed with a diameter of one meter for precise measurement of the total radiant power and luminous flux of lamps. It is particularly suitable for larger and more powerful LED modules with applications in solid-state lighting.

These wine-glass-shaped stuffs designed by Guido Ooms can light too, with the twenty high intensity LEDs that should last a good 10 years. The 7.5″×2.7″size is exactly that of a standard wine glass, which is about 3″ longer than a normal bulb. For as much as $120, the sophisticated drunk can take this novelty light bulb home and add a touch of class to their home bar.

AGFA-Gevaert NV, IMEC of Belgium, and Holst Centre, Philips Research and TNO of the Netherlands have prototyped a flexible OLED lighting panel in which highly-conductive transparent resin electrodes are used in place of ITO (indium tin oxide).  

Infineon Technologies AG has recently released a low-cost LED driver IC which offers thermal protection and high output current accuracy for high-power LEDs in general lighting applications.

Arrow Electronics and Fraen have recently signed an agreement which will enable Arrow to extend its LED lighting range in the UK and Northern Europe. As a leading optic provider, Fraen is specialized in engineering and designing optical components for individual LEDs. The leading-edge products provided by Fraen include: high-efficiency TIR and reflector solutions; software-optimized aspheric profile; multiple beam angles; optimized lens holders; and a complete range of lenses and reflectors.

Future Lighting Solutions and Khatod Optoelectronic has announced yesterday a distribution agreement that would make a broad line of Khatod’s secondary optics for power LEDs available in all major markets all over the world, with the portfolio of products including 190 single, double, triple and quad optics as well as color-mixing optical systems with multiple beam angles and configurations, featuring the industry’s largest selection of optics for LUXEON Rebel LEDs.

Everlight signed a non-exclusive cross-license agreement with OSRAM GmbH (“OSRAM”), providing the companies (including wholly-owned affiliates) with access in certain areas to each other’s patented LED technology.

Endicott Research Group (ERG), Inc., has created a European office, naming Roland Knuchel as European Sales Manager. ERG, based in Endicott, NY, is the leading manufacturer of DC-AC inverters and LED Drivers for powering LCD backlights.

A video of sheep equipped with LED lights released by Samsung last week to promote its new LED TV range has attracted more than 2 million viewers on YouTube in less than one week.