Lawson Inc., the convenience store chain said last week that it will use LED lights in its new outlets scheduled to open in June. And it will later consider also replacing the lights in its existing outlets with LEDs. Lawson made the decision after using LED lights in some of its stores for trial. It has found that a store using LEDs for illumination saves 35% electricity than a store using fluorescent lights.

Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd has developed a new flexible OLED-based poster by combining a regular EL panel and organic EL panels.

After release of the energy efficient C8000 REGZA LCDs, Toshiba is ready for its higher end LED backlit ZX8000 (labeled SV670 in the U.S.) series. Featuring a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and local dimming technology, this series also pack the latest edition of Super Resolution+ upconverting, ClearScan 240Hz motion and fifth generation Pixel Pure image processing.

Hamamatsu Photonics has recently launched its new LC-L2 range of UV curing systems. Comparing with the established LC-L1 range, the LC-L2 systems feature higher power UV LEDs of high durability ensured by the company's heat dissipation technology.

Sharp Corp recently released 10 models of LED street lamps which are designed with lenses for widening the illumination area, with one of the models equipped with solar battery.

After Samsung’s video of LED-equipped sheep flock to promote its new LED TVs, Honda has followed suit in the innovation with the upcoming commercial for its new Insight.

A deep UV LED using diamond semiconductor has been developed by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan (AIST), with the details of the development planned to be disclosed at the 56th Spring Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics taking place from March 30.

A new LED lighting system targeted for commercial facilities has recently been developed by Daiwa House Industry Co. Ltd. in collaboration with Nabesho Co. Ltd. and Kyocera Corp.

Seoul Semiconductor Co. will be a supplier of 300 thousand pieces of LED for “LED Farming Demonstration Project” which is organized by Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry of Japan with the purpose to demonstrate the application of LED in farming lighting.

Castrade Co. Ltd. in Japanese will release its ultra compact LED projector "CV-MP02” on March 19, 2009. The two major differences between CV-MP02 and the ultra compact projectors on the market are its low price and that it’s intended for automobile use. As an automotive device distributor, Castrade has planned to take advantage of its expertise in automotive audio-visual equipment and monitors to market the CV-MP02. Dedicated accessories will also be released to promote its use in vehicles.

Philips Lumileds announced the first street lights in Osaka, Japan has been lit by its LUXEON power LEDs, This reflects the emergence of solid-state lighting as an energy-efficient alternative to street lamps using standard light sources.

Lighting Fair 2009 hold a seminar titled "LED and organic EL pave the road to the future of illumination". The panel discussion was participated by Shuji Nakamura, a professor of the University of California at Santa Barbara, a developer of blue LED and a leader in the research of GaN-based light-emitting element and Junji Kido, who leads the research of the organic EL as a professor of Yamagata University Graduate School of Science and Engineering.

Japanese LED giant Nichia and Semi-Photonics Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of SemiLEDs Corporation USA have settled the patent case (Case No. Hei 19 (wa) 10399) before the Osaka District Court on March 3, 2009. SemiLEDs spokesmen were unable to make any comment due to the legal constraints of the settlement.

Toshiba Corp of Japan unveils the "AL-LED-FS-6," an LED spotlight intended for use in TV studios at Lighting Fair 2009 from March 3 to 6, 2009, at Tokyo Big Site. The "Cool Studio," a studio whose temperature is kept low by using LED lights, will be demonstrated at the exhibition. Toshiba’s AL-LED-FS-6, an LED spotlight intended for TV studios

Latest OLED lighting technologies were demonstrated at Lighting Fair 2009, an exhibition of lighting technologies and equipment that runs from March 3 to 6, 2009, at Tokyo Big Sight. Now some OLED lighting manufacturer is showing off their OLED lighting devices.

At the International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference (nano tech 2009), Toshiba Corp showcased a near-ultraviolet LED that is being developed for use in next-generation LED lighting. The company says the LED features a high external quantum efficiency of 36% and an emission wavelength of 380nm band.

Toshin Electric Co Ltd has launched the "Bikei," an LED tube lamp which can replace 40W straight tube fluorescent lamps. The company enhanced the heat radiation efficiency of the Bikei by forming aluminum radiator fins on part of its tube. Also, it downsized the substrate on which LEDs are mounted and minimized the shadow made by the substrate so that light reaches farther.

Citizen Electronics of Japan appoints Supreme Components International (SCI) of Singapore as their official distributor for High Brightness LED for ASIAN market. Citizen electronics has been producing LEDs since 1983 and is a major player for mobile phone LED in the world with significant market share. Citizen LEDs have high reliability and high CRI.

It’s reported that the residential development of more than 200 houses in Azabu no Oka, Japan will use only LED fixtures for all its outdoor lighting. That means the areas will be lit entirely by LEDs. The development is being built by Toyota Smile Life Inc and has been dubbed Toyota “LED Town.”

NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd. has announced two new amorphous-silicon thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD modules incorporating white LED backlights for industrial applications. The company says that the modules consume less power, are substantially thinner and lighter than comparable LCD modules incorporating cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights.

Luminus Devices Inc. announced that it will make components for LEDs lamps that give off white light with Nichia. That makes LEDs attractive for a wide range of uses. Until now, Luminus has made chips for colored LED lights that go into projectors and TVs.

Two rival LED makers, Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Nichia Corporation announced that they have settled all litigations on patent and other issues as well as other legal disputes currently pending between them in the United States, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and Korea. The settlement includes a cross license agreement covering LED and laser diode technologies, which will permit the companies to access all of each other's patented technologies.

Japanese component manufacturer Rohm Semiconductor will begin selling LED-based lighting fixtures for offices and commercial facilities in March, according to a recent report. It’s disclosed that the company will sell five types of LED light fixtures, each shaped like an incandescent or fluorescent light and containing several hundred of Rohm's 1-3 mm sq. LED chips. The company had prototype versions of the fixtures on its booth at the Electronica tradeshow in November 2008 (see photo).

Opto Tech Corp. and Nichia Corp. will go further on LED cooperation, with Nichia pledging to increase supply of LED chips to its partner in return for Opto Tech’s commitment to making its chips on a contract basis and selling more of Nichia-branded chips to packagers.

Cree, Inc.announces that it has entered into an exclusive patent license agreement, subject to some exceptions, with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a well-known and respected materials supplier.

Energy efficient lighting pioneer BluGlass Ltd and Itochu Plastics Inc. (CIPS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese trading company Itochu Corp. have signed a sales and distribution agreement. That means CIPS has won the sole rights to market BluGlass’s gallium nitride (GaN)-based LED manufacturing technology in Japan.

Moritex Corp developed a bar-shaped LED lamp ”SpectraTrue” in cooperation with Schott AG of Germany, its parent company, that has already released a bar-shaped LED. Moritex says with a high color rendering property, it can precisely reproduce the colors of products and showpieces.

Rohm Co Ltd has developed the SML-L1 and SML-J1 series of side-view and top-view high-output surface-mount LEDs designed to provide autofocus flash functionality and auxiliary lighting in low light conditions for increasingly compact digital still and video cameras.

AIXTRON AG, a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, is pleased to announce an order for a MOCVD system from Showa Denko K.K., a Japan based leading manufacturer of Ultra-High-Brightness (UHB) LEDs received in the first quarter 2008.

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced its intelligent lighting solutions - PSoC Designer(TM) 5.0 visual design software and the CY3265N-RGB evaluation kit support the Power LED series from Nichia Corporation.