Multimedia Authoring and Synchronisation within Active M3. A system for composing active email messages as subtypes of mobile agents

Multimedia electronic mail and active electronic mail are very well known concepts. Multimedia electronic mail is concerned with the transmission of multimedia information like images, audio and video objects within email. Moreover, active email (or enhanced email) incorporates programs in ordinary electronic mail. The active email message automatically executes at the email receiver's site and, for instance, orchestrates the presentation of the multimedia information. This kind of message can be regarded as asubtype of a mobile agent which has a user interface and which gets into contact with the enduser. Based on arealized prototype ActiveM3, the related concepts for multimedia authoring and synchronization within the active email approach are introduced in this article.