The Sohar Port and Freezone located in Middle East nation Oman, announced that it will be installing LED streetlight systems within premises of the port and freezone, reported Times of Oman.

Started from last week, New York’s night skies were lit by up to 2,000 pigeons flew with LEDs strapped to their legs. The performance held in Brooklyn Navy Yard, named “Fly by Night”, was launched by artist Duke Riley. The massive flock followed the artist’s whistle, circled in the sky for 30 minutes over the deck of a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship.

It has been confirmed that Philips Lighting will be issuing an IPO instead of being put up for sale, Philips will gradually sell more than 25% of its stake in the lighting business. Additionally, the company’s IPO announcement will disappoint several investors, such as Go Scale Capital, Melrose, and Apollo to name a few that had previously been interested in submitting bidding proposals. The company’s lighting arm in Thailand has also decided to shut down its fluorescent bulb factory as market penetration of LEDs escalate in the local market to more than 34%.

The market for automotive LED components has grown rapidly in recent years. In the interior automotive lighting application market, the penetration of LED products has reached 70% to 80%. The number of vehicles using LED headlamps has also increased considerably.  Among Taiwan-based LED package suppliers, EVERLIGHT has been the most active in the automotive LED market. As one of the leading LED manufacturers worldwide, EVERLIGHT has overcome technology barriers to achieve mass production capability to provide a wide range of automotive LED products. In a recent interview with LEDinside, Torrent Chin, Associate Vice President, Product R&D Marketing, EVERLIGHT, discussed in detail the company’s developments in the automotive LED market and trends observed.

The flow of shipments, distribution deals, and retail purchases occurring at Snap Light, LLC headquarters is a clear indication that availability of their new LED Light Case, the SnapLight™ Case, has filled a welcomed gap in the tech industry’s cell phone accessories market. International demand including deals across three continents, orders from lifestyle and fashion giants and negotiations with top buyers from other notable big box tech retailers have placed the SnapLight™ Case among the tech industry’s 2016 must-have list and other top products: All in less than 30 days.

    A U.S.-based startup launched crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for its personal outdoor illuminating gadget, ONE8Ø. The team has secured US $111, 153, which is almost 10 times of their pledged goal, from 1,777 backers.   One80 got its name from the semicircular design, offering both headlamp and waist light for selection.   The 180 degree light, which is also the origin of its name, enable wider view during outdoor activities. The semicircular light strip set the user free from repeatedly turning one’s head for illumination. ...

As the dress code goes by “Tech white tie” under the theme “Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology” for Met Gala 2016, many Hollywood celebrities naturally opt for shining, metallic and sleek textures for their nightgowns.

Shawn Hakim and Jacqueline Gallardo recently launched a campaign on Indiegogo to raise money for solar-charging LED lamps for people resident in off grid area deep in Dominican jungles.

In October of 2015 the City of Albuquerque in New Mexico, U.S., through the Department of Municipal Development and Department of Accounting and Financial Services/ Purchasing Division, released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the evaluation and implementation of energy efficiency and reduced maintenance project for city owned street lighting. After much review of all proposals received, Citelum Group was selected as the winning bidder. As part of their contract, Citelum will evaluate and develop a plan to convert approximately 19,000 city-owned street lights to LED.

Google (also known as Alphabet) has patented a display that can be ripped and disposed, according to Mesh Republic and numerous reports.

As previously communicated, Philips continues to simultaneously prepare for an initial public offering (IPO) or a private sale of Philips Lighting. With equity markets’ sentiment improving compared to the first couple of months of the year, an IPO increasingly appears a more likely outcome, subject to further market developments and other relevant circumstances.

Augsburg, an university town in south Germany now can call itself a safer city for the so-called "smartphone zombies" as it is to officially embed LED lights to the road to display traffic lights to pedestrians that bury their head in the mobile, reoprted Sputnik Germany.

Goa, a state located in the South western region of India is to become the first state 100% lit with LEDs. The authority, the Electricity Department, has rolled out the distribution project of 1.5 million LED bulbs to approximately 489, 000 local consumers. Meanwhile, LED streetlight replacement project hosted by EESL will switch 166,000 conventional streetlights to LEDs, reported Herald.

To accelerate digital outcomes and use cases for commercial, industrial and municipal users, Current, powered by GE (NYSE: GE), is adding 15 partners and microservices to its open Intelligent Environments ecosystem. The growth in the company’s app catalog and digital capabilities comes as Current deploys intelligent LED infrastructure in three cities –Tianjin, China; Schenectady, New York; and Cleveland – and on the heels of the company’s acquisition of Daintree Networks, an enterprise IoT provider of building controls solutions for small and medium commercial facilities.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a report on the first GATEWAY demonstration involving OLED lighting. Aurora Lighting Design, Inc., in Grayslake, IL, installed Acuity Brands' TriliaTM OLED lighting system in September 2014. The new report recounts the experiences of this pioneering project and provides valuable feedback to OLED and component manufacturers as well as luminaire manufacturers.

Zumtobel Group, an international lighting group and a leading player in the field of innovative lighting solutions and components, and Bosch Software Innovations, the software and systems house of the Bosch Group, will cooperate for more energy efficient and intelligent commercial buildings. In a development partnership project, the companies will initially focus on remote monitoring and space management in the area of smart lighting solutions for connected buildings.

Greg McNevin sheds light in this Greenpeace blog entry how LEDs are illuminating invisible radiation levels in Chernobyl and Fukushima. 

Opposition party Projet Montréal in Canada is asking the city to halt its CA$ 110 million project to replace 110,000 streetlights with LEDs lights over health risk and light pollution concerns, reported Montreal Gazette.

The AT&T Center, home to the award-winning San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, the San Antonio Spurs, Stars, and Rampage, shines a little brighter. As part of a $110 million infrastructure and technology renovation project, new state-of-the-art light-emitting diode (LED) lighting was installed at the Bexar County-owned arena. The LEDs maximize energy efficiency and enhance the entertainment experience at the venue.

Policymakers, business leaders and financiers agreed that the global transition to energy efficient lighting solutions such as LEDs is an unprecedented opportunity, at a global event which took place in Vijayawada in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, on April 7-8.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) announced that ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C82 published ANSI C82.16-2015 American National Standard for Light-Emitting Diode Drivers—Methods of Measurement. This standard describes the procedures to be followed and the precautions to be taken in measuring performance of LED drivers. The scope includes, but is not limited to, LED drivers with these characteristics:

Company representatives from LiteOn, China Electric and Monocrystal urged Taiwanese LED manufacturers to direct resources to develop niche market products, instead of developing products in the overtly competitive general lighting and application markets during a press conference for the upcoming lighting show LED Taiwan at Taipei World Trade Center Club, Taiwan. 

The sapphire industry has never been the same since Apple dropped sapphire screens in iPhone 6 in 2014, followed with the bankruptcy of GTAT in October the same year. Things have been rough and hard for the sapphire industry over the last three years, as it enters a restructure phase, said Jerry Chen, General Manager, Taiwan, Monocrystal during a press conference held by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) at Taipei World Trade Center Club, Taiwan on Tuesday.

Researchers from the School of Medicine, Ajou University found that regular exposure to IR LED light reduces scars and improves the healing condition, compared to a controlled group, reported Healio.

Cornawall, a city in eastern Ontario, Canada, is expected to complete the upgrade of 5,000 LED streetlights by the end of 2016, reported Seaway News.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) announced that ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C78 published ANSI C78.374-2015 Light-Emitting Diode Package Specification Sheet for General Illumination Applications. The purpose of this new standard is to specify the standardized white light-emitting diode (LED) package specification sheet, or data reporting format, as the means of communication between LED package producers and users in general illumination applications. The minimum defined contents and format of the specification sheet are provided. 

As crews installed the 30,000th energy efficient L.E.D. (light emitting diode) streetlight fixture of a planned 50,000 units in Hempstead Town, Supervisor Anthony J. Santino detailed energy cost savings associated with the major project.  At the same time, Santino “illuminated” residents on the expansion of planet friendly/cost saving the initiative to include the conversion of 17,000 interior light fixtures at town facilities.  Joining the Supervisor at a press briefing on Hamilton Avenue in Island Park was Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, along with Ricky Tripodo of Facility Solutions Group (FSG), a private sector partner that is converting streetlight elements in tandem with town work crews.

Lawbreakers will now have a more difficult time recognizing the profile of the best-selling police vehicle in their rearview mirrors.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Meizu will be launching its latest model Meizu Pro 6 on April 13, 2016, with recent market rumors from China pointing the new phone might be equipped with LED ring flash, reported Android Headlines.

Highlights this week: Apple has dropped Osram Licht from its list of top 200 suppliers and added Royal Philips to its supply chain, ahead of the release of the iPhone 7.