It has been more than three years since the first Apple iPhone was introduced in the Baltics. Not only has the user interface and phone technology been constantly improving, but Latvian language support has become even better and new Latvian applications ranging from reading Latvian newspapers, checking tram timetables to translating Latvian text and listening to a favourite Latvian radio station have appeared in the iTunes App store.

With the recently introduced voice-enabled iPhone 4S worldwide, Apple continues its streak of record-breaking sales. The upgrade of Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad2, earlier this year is also leaving its mark on enterprises by disrupting business models and restructuring IT departments. The industry has been affected so dramatically that manufacturers that once were dominant players are desperately seeking the ideal hardware and software combination to catch up in this transformational era of touch screen-based mobile computing.

For the estimated 40,000 iPhone and 5,000 iPad users currently in Latvia, both the iOS4 and iOS5 software upgrades introduced further Latvian language support.  The Latvian date format on the welcome screen is fixed and Latvian language purists now get the “ŗ” (or palatalised r) option by touching the “r” key for more than a second. iOS5 provides dictionary support for the Latvian language for the first time, however Latvian didn’t make the short list of languages used by Siri, Apple’s smart new voice recognition software introduced with the iPhone 4S.

Although the App store for the Baltics has operated since April 2009 it is only in the last 18 months that have we seen a flurry of new apps and new developers attracted to the platform. Among them is 15-year-old Kristers Jursevskis, author of the Doit app. Latvian newspapers and magazines are not wasting any time either by producing iPhone and iPad versions of their content. This is a boon for Latvians living abroad who still want to keep abreast of the latest news and gossip, but don’t want to have to wait up to a week to receive the paper version via snail mail. Dienas mediji offers the daily edition of Diena for only USD 11 per month. Dienas mediji has made a significant investment in its own customised reader application, which apart from the occasional hiccup with the display of photos is very easy to use. Downloading the daily issue normally takes only a minute or two.

Dienas mediji also produce an iPad only publication called piektDiena that includes news from the previous week, adds some weekly video footage by journalist Māris Zanders and is a little more interactive than the regular Diena PDF version. When it was first launched in June of this year the downloads were a hefty 220MB is size, but nonetheless were quick to download. Six months later and still with a free price tag Dienas mediji has managed to reduce the weekly edition to half the file size. However, this hasn’t helped reduce the network load and it now takes several attempts to download piektDiena successfully. Dienas mediji also offer Dienas Bizness (USD 30 per month or USD 2.15 per issue) and and iPad-only version of the weekly Lietišķā Diena (Zurnāls LD) at USD 99 cents per issue.

The Lilita publishing house has also been providing iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad versions of all of its magazines since earlier this year using the Zinio publishing platform. Magazines such as Copes Lietas, Kas Jauns, Pastaiga, Lilita, Geo, NEXT, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Latvijas Arhitektūra and Latvijas Būvniecība can all be enjoyed at the discounted price to the printed version. With the release of iOS5 and the new Newstand feature, Apple’s own publishing platform, it will be interesting to observe what Zinio and the others will do, because ultimately the user will want to visit only one place for all their subscribed newspapers and magazines.

Swedbank has led the way in providing a mobile banking application (Swedbank Latvija) enabling customers to check their account balance, view previous transactions, pay bills, transfer funds, check currency rates and perform many other useful tasks. It took a whole year before other banks offered similar applications—Rietumu banka with its iRietumu App and dnBNord (DNB Latvija) which became available on the App store earlier this month. SEB banka has Estonian and Lithuanian versions, but a Latvian app is yet to be seen.

Trans Riga, created by independent developer Kristaps Grīnbergs, presents the tram, trolleybus and bus timetables of Rīga in an easy to use interface on the iPhone. Clicking on the map icon displays the route in Google Maps which users can then zoom in for more detail. A useful addition to this application, especially for tourists not familiar with Rīga, is to determine the visitor’s current location and list all of the available nearby public transport. And what about train timetables as well as reporting on public transport delays in real time? Admittedly this would be difficult to do without the cooperation of the Rīga public transport authority, which currently does not release this kind of data.

Ardis Markss from E Forma has produced a simple, but effective educational application (Ābece) targetted at both pre-school children and adults to learn the Latvian alphabet. Each letter has been beautifully drawn and users can also click to hear pronunciation of each word.

One of the more active mobile application developers has been the Rīga-based Cube advertising agency led by Mārtiņš Dambis. Applications include a television programming guide (Lattelecom TV) commissioned by one of the leading cable and digital TV providers in Latvia (I would love to see this app also become a remote control for switching channels and selecting TV shows so that I can finally throw out the old remote); a Līgo song app (LMT Līgo Līgo) that at the shake of the iPhone can provide the words and tune to many Jāņi songs while celebrating the summer solstice; an events guide to this year’s Positivus 11 music festival; a live audio stream from the progressive radio station Radio 101 as well as a video stream to view what’s happening in the studio; and a shopping guide (Alfas dāvanas) from one of the largest shopping centres in Rīga to help users decide what to buy.

Inspired by the Alice in Wonderland app, Jānis Liepiņš has translated a Latvian folktale into English, added stunning illustrations with animation and adapted it for the iPad to captivate both young and old audiences. Liepiņš even pulled out all stops to make a YouTube video promoting the special King’s Daughters iPad interactive book. I am eagerly waiting for the Latvian version so that I can enjoy it together with my youngest son before bedtime.

The software development company Tilde, best known for its Latvian spelling, grammar and translation software, has released the Translation app that can translate whole sentences from Latvian to English, English to Latvian and Latvian to Russian. It is free, but you’ll need to be connected to the Internet via WiFi or 3G. airBaltic has an iPhone app (airBaltic) to view timetables and flight status, as well as access online check-in facilities. There is also a companion app for the airline’s frequent flyers (BalticMiles). CSN Test will help users prepare for the challenging 30 multiple choice questions presented in the driver’s theory exam; Latvian Nouns provides an instant reference to noun, adjective, numeral and pronoun declensions (apologies for the shameless plug); DPD LV allows customers to track shipments online from pick-up to delivery; Riga in Your Pocket puts its popular tourist guide on an iPhone (Riga) with updates on a regular basis; and the draugiem.lv app has revamped its user interface and removed the charging mechanism for iPhone users. As a fan of Latvian ice hockey I tried to retrieve the Dinamo Rīga app, but it seems that access to this could be restricted to the territory of Latvia, which leaves me no other option than to visit the real game next time I’ll be in Rīga.

To find the latest and greatest Latvian app, click on the flag on the right bottom of the iTunes screen and select Latvia. The iTunes Latvia store has been available since August. Another alternative is to regularly check Web sites such as mac.tunt.lv, which provides further links to macpasaule.lv and ipods.lv. Yet another option is to download the new app called “Lietotnes latviski,” the primary goal is to help manage one’s way through the plethora of new Latvian apps that are now appearing on a weekly basis. However, at the time of writing not all apps were included and updates have been sporadic.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of Latvian apps, but it gives an appreciation for the diversity now available. I look forward to the day when Latvian utilities, TV stations and government departments will open up their data to the community to pave the way for even more innovative and exciting mobile applications, no matter where one may be located worldwide.

More than 20 years in the making, a Latvian invention is about to transform the audio industry. With this software and hardware solution, sound emitted from a loudspeaker becomes clearer and more natural than ever.

The applications are numerous, ranging from high-end sound studios, cinemas, theatres to home entertainment systems, computers and sound players on the move—car audio or portable audio including MP3 docking stations—and even outdoor concert venues.

The technology is called CONEQ and its inventor, Latgale-born Raimonds Skuruls, has spent most of his life looking at better sound reproduction from loudspeakers. The first time the technology was publically demonstrated was during the “Lāčplēsis” opera performance more than two decades ago. Later, Skuruls worked as a sound engineer with Latvian rock group Jumprava. In 2004, Skuruls together with investor Viesturs Sosārs formed Real Sound Lab.

CONEQ is already featured in products such as the Hitachi HDTV Ultravision and Wooo brand plasma and LCD television models, Panasonic VIERA brand Plasma television products and Kenwood music entertainment systems. Los Angeles-based Mi Casa Studios, renowned for top-end sound quality on film projects such as Lord of the Rings, The Golden Compass and other blockbuster films, is also using the CONEQ audio correction system.

To date the company has invested more than LVL 1 million and has also received a significant proportion in European Union funds. Today Real Sound Lab has offices in both the United States and Japan, plus a dealer network stretching to the other side of the world. In 2008 Skuruls received the most innovative product award from the Ministry of Economics and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) and in 2009 was the third person to receive the Latvian Academy of Sciences Walter Zapp (inventor of the Minox camera) award for his loudspeaker correction technology. It is especially encouraging to see the company adopt the model whereby the non-key competences such as programming, hardware design and manufacturing are outsourced to other local Latvian companies and to the University of Latvia.

Eager to experience CONEQ, I visited the headquarters of Real Sound Lab located in an understated office building just outside the centre of Rīga. Atis Straujums, director of development, was quick to correct my preconceptions about CONEQ. This technology is all about correcting loudspeakers so that they can accurately reproduce the original sound source. Correcting room acoustics is another topic. In other words, if you play recorded violin through a CONEQ-corrected loudspeaker in a subway station, it should sound like a violinist playing in a subway station and not like a violinist playing in a concert hall or elsewhere.

Straujums chose to correct the monitor speakers connected to his laptop. With a measurement microphone attached to the laptop and running the CONEQ software, it was a simple matter of waving the microphone in front of each of the speakers in a zig-zag pattern for no more than two minutes. From the accumulated measurement data of more than 300 points the CONEQ software calculated the acoustic power frequency response of each of the speakers and a correction filter was created. The difference in sound quality was quite noticeable.

The CONEQ software comes in both Starter and Workshop versions, is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh computer systems, and starts at around EUR 100.

For professional producers in studios (or audiophiles who want to apply CONEQ to their home entertainment systems) a rack-mounted APEQ hardware equaliser is also available. This unit, currently available in a 2-channel configuration and later this year as a 8-channel unit, is loaded with the appropriate correction filters and placed before the amplifier and speakers.

But the real market for CONEQ won’t be direct sales to home users. The main strategy is to approach the big names in the audio and multimedia industry and convince them to begin incorporating this technology into their TVs, entertainment and speaker systems, portable players, mobile telephones and other consumer and professional audio appliances. The first wave has already begun and ongoing marketing efforts will ensure a Latvian success story.

Imagine the next time you’re visiting Rīga you pull your iPhone or Blackberry out of your pocket and point it to your favourite Art Nouveau architecture to receive more fascinating facts about the building.

Or you are waiting for the next tram to take you to the Forest Cemetery (Meža kapi) and your mobile device notifies you that the service is running three minutes late, because it knows you are currently located at the corner of Dzirnavu and Barona streets. And when you arrive at Meža kapi you need to take the first right and then the second left to get to the Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics memorial grave site, which you couldn’t find the last time.

And you’re getting mighty hungry, so your device presents you with a choice of three nearby eateries, only a few minutes walking distance away, offering good and wholesome Latvian traditional food.

Most of what is described above is already available today. With further consolidation and standardisation of information technologies (IT), particularly in the Latvian government sector, not only will we see considerable cost savings, but even more new and innovative applications will begin to emerge, some of which we might have not even thought of today.

This was one of the recurring themes discussed at the 11th annual Latvian Information Technology and Telecommunications Association conference held Nov. 27 in Rīga. The conference primarily focused on a more effective IT operating model for the Latvian government sector. It makes perfect sense. Why should each ministry continue to maintain its own IT department, operate separate systems and databases, and make important strategic decisions independently? Why should Latvian citizens have to request information from multiple institutions if the process can be simplified and the results achieved in a few mouse clicks?

The Road Traffic Safety Directorate (Ceļu satiksmes drošības direkcija) is a good example of a government institution that has cut through the bureaucratic red tape and focused on the customer—the Latvian citizen. When I recently applied for a Latvian driver’s licence the whole process took no more than an hour, including completing the 30-minute theory examination and receiving the final product—a shiny new plastic card—in my hands. The process was remarkably smooth thanks to the customer-focused processes and consolidated IT systems. Add the e-signature service and next time I’ll be able to repeat the exercise from the comfort of my home.

The EME e-signature product offered by the Latvian Post Office was supposed to reduce waiting in queues getting unnecessary documents (izziņas), but in its three years of operation the number of users has grown to no more than a few thousand (officials were expecting 10,000 in the first 12 months) and the number of institutions and businesses making use of the technology is less than a handful. In order for this to really take off we need to see more commitment from the government, including a major overhaul of how IT is managed. The thinking of three years ago just doesn’t cut it anymore. I can still clearly remember a presentation from a representative of the Latvian Notary Association stating that its services would not be affected by the introduction of this technology. Who are they kidding! I would much prefer the Estonian way, where using the e-signature service it takes no more than 15 minutes to register a new business, compared to the several days of running around various Latvian institutions getting all kinds of documents, some of which have to be notarised as well.

The LIKTA conference was also the opportunity to highlight achievements, including new IT products and services introduced in the last 12 months.

This year’s Platinum Mouse Awards (Platīna pele 2009) were divided into three categories. Ideju Forums (Idea Forum) took the “Best Service to the Community” award with its online digital library project, www.e-biblioteka.lv, launched just two months ago. The library contains more than 5,000 e-books in various languages, 1,200 audio books, 430 videos and a growing number of audio and image files. Ideju Forums is also known for creating audio books for the vision-impaired as well as maintaining the popular children’s stories portal at www.pasakas.net.

The “Business Development and E-commerce” award went to Lattelecom, which has become a world leader in rolling out a new high-speed optical Internet service in Rīga. Customers living in the outer suburbs of Pļavnieki, Purvciems, Ziepniekkalns and Imanta should feel especially privileged since as of the beginning of November they are now able to connect to a blindingly fast 500Mb Internet service—the fastest consumer Internet service in the world. If these residents can’t afford the LVL 50 per month, they can still choose from the 100Mbps service at a very affordable LVL 11.90 per month. Lattelecom hasn’t yet managed to get to the centre of Riga so I’ll have to cope a few more months with my “slow” 10 Mbps Internet service.

Lattelecom was also nominated for its new digital TV product called Interaktīvā TV. What makes this different to the other TV service providers is the ability to watch programs that you might have missed during the previous week. On the night of the Nov. 18, I was among many other thousands of people who sang the Latvian anthem and watched the fireworks on the banks of the Daugava River. When I got home later that evening I switched on my iTV service and relived the event, but this time on my TV. I was also impressed how simple it was to set up the iTV service. The easy-to-read manual and online video set a great example of how new products and services should be rolled out to customers.

The “Best e-Government Solution” was awarded to the Ministry of Agriculture for creating an online solution, E-Pieteikšanās sistēma, that enables farmers to apply for subsidies from the European Agriculture Fund. Several other e-government initiatives were also nominated, but with consolidated and centralized IT infrastructure the number of applications should grow even more. A proposal was also put forward to adopt the ppen data standard that could make Latvian government more open and transparent, similar to the initiatives already started by the U.S. government (see, for example, Data.gov) and several other countries.

The “Special Mention” award went to the Web site Lielie bērnu slimnīcai, which uses various social networking technologies to collect donations for the Children’s Hospital.

The mentions and awards shouldn’t stop there:

• The parenting portals www.mammam.lv and www.tetiem.lv, in 10th place in terms of Web site popularity, provides a useful forum for mums, dads, grandparents and anyone else bringing up children.
• Eurotermbank is the largest online terminology resource encompassing more than 2 million terms in several European languages, including all three Baltic languages and should be included in every translator’s arsenal of translation tools.
• Drošs Internets educates children on the risks of the Internet.
• The Mobilly service provides an alternative way—using your mobile telephone—to pay for a car parking space, a ticket on the Liepāja tram, a ticket on the train or your next taxi trip.

Many more businesses and individuals were not nominated simply because they have been too busy working on their next creations.