Traditional yellow sodium street lights are steadily being replaced by white LED bulbs. The new lights use less energy, dramatically cutting carbon emissions and saving money. But not everybody is happy.

A town in the Netherlands is trialling special pavement lights designed to help smartphone users cross the road safely.

Osram is focusing the business on semiconductors after the German Economy Ministry signed off on the sale of Ledvance to a Chinese consortium. After the disposal, the company's portfolio will center on automotive lighting as well as sensors and specialty LEDs.

Power semiconductor and power supply vendors are poised to cash in on strong growth anticipated for LED lighting in coming years, according to the latest forecast from market research firm IHS.

Chipmaker Microchip Technology said it would buy Supertex for US$394 million in cash to bolster its business that supplies to the medical, LED lighting, industrial and telecommunication industries.

A former CEO at Philips Lighting breaks down the competitive landscape in solid-state lighting.

Researchers believe they have come up with a new type of LED-powered streetlamp that could radically reduce light pollution.

Philips, the world's biggest lighting maker, has reported a 38% jump in first quarter LED sales from a year earlier.

The Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium has released its Model Specification for Adaptive Control and Remote Monitoring of LED Roadway Luminaires aimed at helping municipalities and utilities maximize energy savings.

Digital convergence is rapidly coming to lighting as component makers pave the way for customizable, networked lamps.

The EUR11.8 million (US$15 million) pan-Europe NEWLED project is aiming to develop a new generation of 50-60% energy efficient white light-emitting LED lights, which would be more than twice as efficient as existing LED-based bulbs.

Cree Lighting and Philips Lighting both announced 60W-equivalent LED lamps at less than US$15, but the companies took decidedly different design approaches to the SSL retrofits.

Some of the brightest new technology for cars involves lighting, such as high-intensity LED headlights, but lagging regulatory approval is leaving US drivers in the dark.

A four-year contract to install LED lighting across the transport network in Paris will see work begin in April this year.

The California Energy Commission has worked with research originating at the California Lighting Technology Center to publish an LED lamp quality specification that SSL manufacturers will have to follow for products to qualify for utility incentives.

One in five China-based LED lighting companies may fail this year as falling prices and oversupply batter an industry that Beijing bankrolled to try to build an energy-efficient future.

LED lighting system costs can be reduced with good control circuit design and component selection, writes Fabrizio Petris from Omron Ellectronic Components Europe