DALTON TANONAKA, CNN ANCHOR: One of the most popular uses for personal computers is e-mail. The latest advance in technology has your e- mail talking to you. CNN's Fred Katayama reports.</s>FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): E-mail is taking a big leap, going from text to multimedia. AT&T; Worldnet will announce Tuesday a new service that allows users to easily send video e-mail using regular phone lines.</s>EDWARD PLASKON, AT&T; WORLDNET SERVICE: The next step with video e- mail is really unlimited. People are going to use video e-mail in ways that we haven't imagined.</s>KATAYAMA: Video e-mail never took root because it was cumbersome. Messages recorded on a camcorder had to be tied to a PC. Once sent, a one- minute message would take 15 minutes to download, and gobble at least 1,000 times more space on the recipient's hard drive than a text message. AT&T; avoids all this by streaming the video, so the message sits on its network, not the user's hard drive. And downloads take seconds. (on camera): What sets AT&T;'s service apart is its ease of use. All you have to do is park yourself in front of this Web camera, hit the record button, wait for the countdown, and start recording. "Hi, it's Fred, here at AT&T; testing out its new video e-mail service. What do you think?" Then hit stop and the send button. Back at the office, I can pick up my message. "Hi, it's Fred..."</s>ROB LANCASTER, YANKEE GROUP: The likes of AOL and MSN are not going to be far behind. If they see value in this service, it won't take them long to pick up a partner.</s>KATAYAMA: AT&T; hasn't decided whether to charge a fee. But analysts say struggling Internet service firms are under pressure to create new sources of revenues. Fred Katayama, CNN financial news, Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
Latest Advance in Technology Has Your E-Mail Talking to You