If you are tired of firing up the computer when you want to listen to a Latvian radio station over the Internet, a device like the Acoustic Energy WiFi Internet Radio should be on your shopping list.

For Internet users who have a broadband connection and a wireless system in place, the Acoustic Energy radio solves a number of problems. Your computer is freed to do other things—or can even be turned off. Thanks to how the unit taps into an online database of thousands of Internet broadcasters, searching for a station is a breeze. And it is a delight to be able to program the radio’s clock to wake you to the sounds of your favorite station, no matter if it’s across town or on the other side of the globe.

Acoustic Energy Ltd., a United Kingdom-based company, claims its Internet radio is the first one capable of receiving more than 99 percent of the world’s broadcasters. While that sounds like puffery, what is true is that the unit has software built in allowing it to play Windows Media, RealMedia and MP3 audio streams.

I was thrilled to learn of the radio and quickly placed an order. I have been waiting for something like this since learning about the ill-fated Kerbango radio marketed by 3Com Corp., a product that died in 2001 when its parent ran into financial trouble.

The genius of the Acoustic Energy unit is that it is tied to a database of stations maintained by Reciva Ltd., a British company designing and building Internet radio modules. Reciva’s database is used by a number of Internet radio manufacturers, including Acoustic Energy, BT (once known as British Telecom), MagicBox and others.

When I first got my unit, the Reciva Web site (and an Acoustic Energy salesman) boasted the radio could receive 15 stations from Latvia. If true, that would be almost all of the 17 over-the-air stations currently streaming their signals online, or three-fourths if you count all of Latvian State Radio’s four programs, and Radio SWH’s three programs, separately.

Unfortunately, Reciva’s claim quickly crumbled. Of the 15 stations, two were Internet-only broadcasters, and one of those was dead. Of the rest, Reciva listed Latvijas Radio 2 three times (once as Latvijas Radio P2, once as Radio Latvia 2 and once as Radio Latvia Two). It repeated the 1st Program once. Radio NABA had two listings, as did Radio SWH+ and Radio SWH Rock. The result: Reciva’s database really only listed seven distinct over-the-air broadcasters from Latvia, or just under a third of what’s available.

To add to the disappointment, the genre listings for some stations were confusing. In one instance, the format for Latvijas Radio 2 was shown as oldies, in another as varied and in yet another as folk. It’s all those, plus more, and really should be put in the public broadcaster category, the heading that most accurately describes what kind of station it is. Radio NABA was listed as having both dance and electronica formats. The station does occasionally play those formats, but it’s really a college station, run by the University of Latvia.

In an effort to increase the number of Latvian stations in Reciva’s database, I registered on the company’s site and submitted information on half a dozen more stations. Reciva promptly acknowledged receiving each entry, but weeks later I was still waiting for them to appear in the database.

Even now, months later, Reciva claims its database holds 19 Latvian stations, but five of those are duplicates. And, of course, it’s also 19 “stations” because Latvijas Radio has four programs, while Radio SWH has three.

The Acoustic Energy radio is great. I have it on all the time now, listening mostly to that handful of stations from Latvia and a few times exploring some other favorites from around the world.

But I could do without Reciva’s database of 5,400 stations and the inaccuracies therein. I don’t plan to listen to all those stations. I want to listen to my favorites.

What I need is a way to transfer my computer’s bookmarks into the AE Radio. That would be a top feature and a “missing link” that would move the radio from an already excellent product into the “must have” category. If Reciva doesn’t do it, I’m sure once the radio reaches a certain saturation level in the market some computing genius will create a hack.

Reciva does offer a partial solution: a “My Streams” option that allows a user with an account on Reciva’s site to input a list of stations and addresses. It’s what I use to store all Latvian stations in one place. My only issue is that it is stored on Reciva’s site. What if Reciva were to disappear, or stop supporting the feature?

To be fair, Reciva appears to be going strong. The fact that a number of Internet radio manufacturers are using its database suggests consumers need not worry.

Despite my concerns about Reciva’s database, I’m happy with the radio. Acoustically it’s not the greatest, what with one speaker. However, a listener may easily attach external speakers, but that’s only worth doing if you plan to listen to a stereo audio stream. The price may put off some consumers, too. The unit has a suggested retail price of GPB 199.95 (USD 299.95), but keep in mind this is really a simple computer in a little box.

With phishing, pharming and other identity-related scams on the increase, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell who actually sent the e-mail sitting in your inbox, whether the associated MIcrosoft Word attachment can be trusted and whether the Web link provided to resubmit your personal details actually belongs to that authority. The e-signature smart card launched by Latvia Post on Oct. 4 proposes to address some of these problems by providing a secure method for the exchange of documents and other information electronically.

No more running around the various institutions and government departments, notarising countless documents, trying to find out when and where to go and spending unproductive hours in queues—the e-signature will introduce a whole new way of working for both the individual dealing with government services and for businesses interacting with both the government and their counterparts. The impact will be huge, requiring a radical change of thinking and an entirely different mode of operation especially in Latvia’s public sector. With the e-signature service and time stamping features you will theoretically be able to track electronically how your submitted document is traversing through the various departments during the approval process.

But what is the reality today? The Rīga Municipal Council is on board, but is yet to provide any compelling applications requiring the exclusive use of the e-signature. This is expected to improve with further development of the technical infrastructure. Up until now the State Revenue Department offered its own electronic service that required that you sign a special contract, but with the new e-signature you will soon be able to submit 90 percent of the required declarations and tax reports. Parex Bank claims it will take new American Express credit card applications via the e-signature service, but Hansabank is still looking for the killer application that will include the e-signature into its next essential banking service. Although the e-signature service complies with international standards, no agreements have yet been signed outside the borders of Latvia.

To apply for your e-signature you will need to go to one of the nominated branches of Latvia Post, present your passport, complete an application form and come back two weeks later to pick up your e-signature smart card. For individuals the cost is LVL 24 for two years and an additional 35 santīms for each transaction. For small- and medium-sized businesses the cost is LVL 47, which includes a smart card USB reader and the first 100 transactions free of charge. Thereafter the cost is 25 santīms per transaction. If you are a heavy user, then choose the unlimited plan for LVL 90. Surprisingly, Latvia Post still does not accept credit cards as payment, but this facility has been promised to be introduced by the end of the year. The prices may at first seem rather steep, but as businesses begin to realise the cost and time benefits achieved it will become an essential part of their daily operations.

You can view a video clip of how to use the e-signature service at E-me.lv, the post office’s official site for the project. Even though the promotional brochures and video clip features Macintosh computers, Macintosh users will not be able to use this service until Latvia Post has produced a version for the platform. Linux users have also been left out. I would have liked to have seen a much simpler interface even for the current Windows version. Right-click with your mouse on the document or file, choose “Add signature” or “Add signature and e-mail” from the submenu and everything should just happen in the background. No doubt when third-party programmers get access to the software libraries we should see further improvements in usability.

For Latvian citizens living outside of Latvia the e-signature service will be a welcome step forward as more government services become available on the Internet and offer a new, convenient way to participate in the 10th Saeima elections in 2010.

With more 1 million mobile phone customers and more than 700,000 registered users of the social networking Web site draugiem.lv, Latvia has never been far behind the rest of Europe in the take up of new technologies. People in Latvia also are big users of Skype, a service that allows you to place voice calls using the Internet at a fraction of typical call rates.

Although Internet telephony software has been around for nearly a decade, it took two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and four Estonian programmers with their already proven file sharing technology to overcome previous technical hurdles and offer Skype. It is a simple and very affordable service now being used by 120 million people worldwide.

Skype has made such an impact that it now carries 7 percent of worldwide telephony traffic. Major telephone companies around the world are beginning to realise that the days of cashing in on long distance calls are well and truly over. In October 2005, after only two years since its inception, Skype was acquired by eBay for a mere USD 4 billion. Skype’s main operations centre is located in Tallinn and it has recently recruited a programmer from Latvia as well.

So what is the big fuss all about? With a reasonably fast Internet connection (broadband is recommended) and a Windows-, Macintosh- or Linux-based computer, you can be up and running within minutes. The free downloadable Skype client software has evolved to become an impressive communications suite with phone and video conferencing, instant messaging, voicemail and the ability to connect to any standard telephone service (SkypeOut) for as low as EUR 0.017 per minute. But the main reason for its popularity is that you can talk to any other Skype user on the planet for free—provided that they are also connected to the Internet and Skype is running on the other computer. Skype is also platform agnostic, which means you can voice or video call irregardless of whether the other user is running Windows or Macintosh. With the new Skype handsets it is possible to bypass the computer altogether—you can place calls anywhere where you can find a wireless Internet connection.

Skype has acknowledged its popularity in Latvia by providing a Latvian version of its Web site. It also plans to provide a Latvian interface in a future release of the client software.

The disparate pricing for SkypeOut rates to and from Latvia is due to the highly regulated communications environment that still exists in Latvia. If you are located in Rīga, a call to a regular Australian or U.S. telephone number is only EUR 0.017 per minute, but in the reverse direction it climbs to as high as EUR 0.122 per minute for calls to Latvian mobiles. For this reason the most popular way to use Skype remains from computer to computer and it is, of course, free.

Not to be left out Lattelecom recently launched a new home communications package for a monthly charge of LVL 13.90 that includes 2Mbps of broadband Internet access and free local calls. Expect similar deals from other major telcos to emerge in the near future as well.

I have been using Skype for over a year—mainly from Australia and recently in our travels ranging from a remote country house in north Vidzeme, Frankfurt airport, the Atbalsis retreat in Gaŗezers, a busy youth hostel in downtown Helsinki to the WiFi-enabled Vērmaņdārzs in Rīga. The quality of the voice conversations has been as good if not better than the ordinary telephone service. For best results plug in a computer headset to avoid voice echo effects and invest in a Webcam so you can beam your smile to your friends as well.

What are the drawbacks? Skype is only as good as your Internet service provider (ISP) and the quality of service you get from it. Don’t go cancelling your landline just yet, because low-cost ISPs can’t match the reliability of the ordinary telephone service provided by the major telecommunication companies. ISPs have a tendency to have service disruptions, whereas your standard telephone handset is guaranteed to be operational even during power outages — essential for those emergency calls. But the price of Skype is hard to beat.

If you’re a Latvian business or organisation operating internationally or simply want to keep in touch with friends and relatives you can save a bundle on your long distance communication costs and get a taste of this exciting new technology.