At the Smart City Expo World Congress, Silver Spring Networks unveiled the next generation of its multi-application, smart city networking platform. Key advancements to Silver Spring’s IPv6-based networking platform include smart city extensions in the Streetlight.Vision Central Management System (CMS) software, integrated GPS, a migration path for those dependent on antiquated GPRS, and successful interoperability testing with multiple smart city CMS solutions in advance of certification for the TALQ outdoor lighting protocol. Silver Spring also announced new partners EnLight and Lumnex, who are integrating their smart lighting technologies with the Silver Spring networking and software platform.

Think-Eleven, a San Diego based business development and consulting agency and IC12, an electronics and product design firm, announced the launch of its joint Kickstarter campaign for the Lume Cube. Controlled via a wireless Bluetooth-enabled app, the Lume Cube is a powerful and ultra-portable lighting tool that will open new creative possibilities for photographers and videoagraphers of any skill level looking to get the most out of their smartphone cameras, action cams and more traditional digital cameras. 

Fujitsu Laboratories announced the development of a technology that can embed ID data in light cast by LEDs or other light sources onto objects, and also recover this ID data from objects that have been lit in this way.

Light and Charge system combines cutting-edge lighting and electric drive technologies – first unveiled at EUROCITIES 2014 in Munich – prototypes now up and running at BMW Welt – highefficiency LED technology, adaptive lighting levels, charging station integrated in the BMW i ChargeNow network.  

Cree offered a solution that fulfilled our needs for clean, efficient lighting with little to no maintenance expense. The lighting is fantastic.

Light pioneer Mercedes-Benz offers a preview of what the future holds: instead of the 24 LEDs of the gridded high beam module in the CLS headlamp, 84 LEDs per headlamp will soon be providing for even better light quality and even greater safety at night. In the medium term, as many as 1024 pixels per LED will enable optimum illumination of the road at every speed and in all traffic conditions – and without dazzling other road users.

The Birmingham railroad bridge located in Alabama received a makeover that transformed the tunnel into a sea of rainbow color.

The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) of Thailand aims to complete upgrading high sodium pressure streetlights in the country to more energy efficient LEDs within four years, said Director Niwat Chayakul, the organization's Director of Power System and Research Development Department  told LEDinside at EcoLight Asia 2014, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand.

Union Tool Co, a cutting tool manufacturer based in Japan, will release a system that monitors an elderly person, etc by using an LED lamp equipped with a laser device in September 2015.

Noribachi teamed up with Bucknell University to upgrade its Gerhard Fieldhouse sports facility lighting with a customized LED light retrofit solution. The indoor sports complex houses Bucknell’s indoor track and field facility as well as basketball, tennis, racquetball and volleyball courts.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar’s has showed steady revenue growth, accumulated revenue as of September 2014 has reached last year's total annual revenue of US $750 million, and it’s future revenue outlook remains positive. The company's merge with FOREPI is expected to further drive annual revenue growth to reach the $1 billion target soon, said Epistar Deputy Director of Marketing Center, Dr. Chiu-Lin Yao at LEDforum 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan last month.

French designers Linlin and Pierre-Yves Jaques are bringing the art of silhouette to a whole new level with the play of 3D printed lights.

After releasing Pad Extension Chip (PEC) in 2013, LED chip manufacturer Epistar, has improved the technical and support system for the product, and now the product is applied in direct-type LED TV backlight, lighting and flash lights. Epistar’s PEC chips will be applied in large volumes in direct-type LED TV next year, with target products being 32 inch to 45 inch LED TVs. The company’s orders are mainly from China and South Korea, said Epistar Deputy Director of Marketing Center, Dr. Chiu-Lin Yao while attending LEDforum 2014 held in Taipei, Taiwan on Oct. 24, 2014.

Hubbell Lighting, a world leader in lighting innovation, announced today that Hubbell Building Automation (HBA) has become a Member of The Connected Lighting Alliance. The lighting world is on the eve of a paradigm shift towards wireless connectivity, and HBA’s industry-leading products offer the simplest and most convenient form of new lighting control.

Many smart LED applications have emerged in recent years, and the latest addition BeOn, which integrates smart lighting with home security is making the rounds on the Internet.

Smart lighting emerged in recent years as a promising technology that has attracted investments from many institutes and LED companies, but further R&D is required before the technology can become truly human centric, said Pei-Ting Chou, Manager, Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories, ITRI, at LEDforum 2014, which was held on Oct. 24, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Governors and lawmakers in state capitals across the nation continue to take major steps to lower energy costs, reduce pollution, and save consumers money by increasing their states’ energy efficiency, according to the findings of the 8th edition of the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

SYLVANIA Automotive Lighting ushers in a new era of vehicle lighting with the expansion of the SYLVANIA ZEVOTM Automotive LED Lighting line. SYLVANIA ZEVO products offer the customized style and signature look of LED technology on luxury vehicles to the aftermarket.

The market for connected LED or “smart” light bulbs is in its embryonic stage of development, with shipments totaling fewer than 2.5 million units in 2013. However, falling LED prices and the endorsement of ZigBee Light Link as the preferred connectivity solution by a number of leading lighting manufacturers means that annual smart bulb shipments are set to increase to 223 million by 2020, achieving a total installed base of over 400 million. 

Cost effective communication solutions are important for long range smart streetlight applications to make it acceptable to potential clients, said Gary Tsai, R&D Director, Institute for Information Industry (III) at LEDforum 2014 last Friday at Taipei, Taiwan.

A stunning video shot by Sweetgrass productions sponsored by Philips has transformed the snowy Alaskan mountain slopes in U.S. and snowy hills of British Columbia, Canada into a dreamily illuminating landscape, according to a Wired report.

Pemco Holdings, LLC (Pemco), a leading investor and developer of energy efficiency projects, in partnership with Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), today announced the completion of the Brunswick Landing LED Street Lighting Improvement Project at the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine, U.S. The project, which pioneered the use of dimming controls on public street lighting in the U.S., includes the upgrade of 650 street and area lights with new LED fixtures and radio frequency-enabled control and monitoring systems.

The role of phosphor powder in LED applications is increasingly important to lower LED production costs and meet higher light quality demands, said Calvin Yeh, Global Strategic Marketing Manager, Lighting/PV Business Field, Merck Display Technologies, at LEDforum 2014 hosted by LEDinside on Oct. 24, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Cree introduces the New Cree® LED Bulb, delivering superior light performance while looking just like an incandescent light bulb at an even more affordable price. Featuring a new innovative design, the New Cree LED Bulb provides the same cost savings and 25,000-hour lifetime that made the original Cree LED Bulb America’s best-selling LED bulb. Available as 40- and 60-watt replacements, the New Cree LED Bulb is available at The Home Depot® for as low as US $7.97. This is a 20% price mark down compared to previous bulb products, said Cree.

Top Chinese LED manufacturer San’an Opto has swapped its shares in FOREPI for leading Taiwanese LED chip maker Epistar shares, the Investment Commission of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced Tuesday.

The LED segment might have made significant technology advancements that have driven down costs, and made the bulbs more affordable to most households, the office lighting sector remains a difficult segment for LED manufacturers to tap into, said Michael Schmitt, Regional Market Director, Asia-Pacific, Osram Opto Semiconductors at LEDforum 2014, which took place in Taipei, Taiwan last Friday. 

Taiwanese connector manufacturer Ant Precision has been gradually transiting its business model towards automotive connector and industrial products, due to impact from easing notebook demand market, according to a report by Money DJ. The company has developed connectors for LED products for several years, and will be supplying connectors for IKEA residential LED lights. Ant Precision’s LED connectors were approved this month by IKEA, and will be entering mass production phase in 2Q14 by 2015.

By late January, 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone could be infected with the Ebola virus. That’s the worst-case scenario of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa recently offered by scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC warns that  those countries could now have 21,000 cases of the virus, which kills 70 percent of people infected.

The days of glimpsing the world through a tiny plastic porthole when you fly are soon to be a thing of the past; future aircrafts will offer a crystal clear panoramic view without any windows at all. At the UK based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), scientists and engineers are developing ultra-flexible, high-definition display technologies that could line the interior walls of cabins and display live footage from external cameras.

Global LED trends show backlight applications are in decline, and that lighting will remain the major market driver, said Sean Zhou, Regional Marketing Director, Asia, Philips Lumileds at LEDforum 2014, which took place Friday in Taipei, Taiwan. In terms of regional market performances, LED market growth in Japan has waned compared to other regions.