Q3. SMIL is an application of XML. What is the purpose of this technology? What does it apply?

Answer:

SMIL ( Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) is a W3C recommended XML markup language for describing multimedia presentations. It defines markup for timing, layout, animations, visual transitions, and media embedding, among other things. SMIL allows the presentation of media items such as text, images, video, and audio, as well as links to other SMIL presentations, and files from multiple web servers. SMIL markup is written in XML, and has similarities to HTML. (Wikipedia, 2009)
The Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language enables simple authoring of interactive audiovisual presentations. SMIL is typically used for "rich media"/multimedia presentations which integrate streaming audio and video with images, text or any other media type. SMIL is an easy-to-learn HTML-like language, and many SMIL presentations are written using a simple text-editor. (W3Schools.com, 2009)

Arndt (2009) states that the purposes of SMIL are ...

1. It is also desirable to be able to publish multimedia presentations using a markup language.
2. A multimedia markup language needs to enable scheduling and synchronization of different multimedia elements, and define their interactivity with the user.

Where does SMIL apply?
SMIL is used or applied in Multimedia Players to view Video, Audio, Image... etc... For example, the players are AMBULANT, Helix Player, QuickTime Player, RealPlayer, Totem, KMPlayer, Windows Media Player (Playlist Files), Zune (Playlist Files) and Amarok. In order to view a SMIL presentation, a client will need to have a SMIL player installed on his/her computer. Currently, Apple's Quicktime player, Windows Media Player (WMP) and RealNetworks RealPlayer are among the most popular media players.

Reference:

1. Wikipedia (2009). "Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language". Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved Mar-15th-2009 from URL - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronized_Multimedia_Integration_Language
2. W3Schools.com (2009). "W3C Synchronized Multimedia Home Page". W3Schools.com, Retrieved Mar-15th-2009 from URL - http://www.w3.org/AudioVideo/
3. Arndt Timothy (2009). "The Power Point file". The Department of Computer and Information Sciences in Cleveland State University, Retrieved Mar-16th-2009 from URL - http://grail.cba.csuohio.edu/~arndt/cis658_1.ppt and http://grail.cba.csuohio.edu/~arndt/