PopTok software weaves a scene from the film "Scarface" into an instant message exchange.

Israeli startup PopTok on Monday began inviting people to test a free service that weaves snippets from memorable films or hot music videos into instant messages and email.

Instead of relying on abbreviations such as "LOL" to indicate "laugh out loud," people using PopTok can let film characters, live or animated, do it for them in short clips dropped into conversations.

A friend's attention can be grabbed with a snippet of Denzel Washington saying: "I'd love to talk to you", or Charlie Sheen bidding someone "Good morning".

Or if someone doesn't respond immediately, Al Pacino could deliver his line from 'Scarface': "Did you finish?"

"Everybody quotes films," PopTok founder Illi Edry said as he provided AFP a preview of the service in San Francisco.

Edry recalled his stint as vice president of marketing and interactive formats at Israeli television network Keshet Broadcasting.

"We produce one hour of television broadcasting for prime time at a cost of millions and at the end of the day people, quote one sentence," Edry said with a laugh.

"I came to the realization if the one hour is supporting that sentence, let's keep the sentence."

PopTok has licensed memorable television, film, and music video one-liners from partners including Sony, Universal, Warner and Paramount studios.

As an invitation-only testing phase begins, PopTok claims a catalogue of more than 2,000 video snippets with more arriving daily.

PopTok founder Illi Edry. The Israeli startup has begun inviting people to test a free service that weaves snippets from memorable films or hot music videos into instant messages and email.

PopTok users download a small software application that syncs with instant messaging programs.

From there, it is a matter of picking video snippets and "drag and dropping" them into text conversations.

Recipients can join PopTok to have clips play instantly during online exchanges or opt to view film snippets at the PopTok website.

PopTok revenues will come from online advertising along with deals with film studios to "pre-seed" the free service with catch phrases or teaser scenes from films due to debut in cinemas.

PopTok will also provide links to online stores such as Amazon where people can buy films from which snippets originate, according to freshly hired chief executive Scott Kauffman.

PopTok streams video to people's computers, alleviating studio concerns about piracy because none of the data is downloaded or stored by recipients.

PopTok has grown to 36 employees since it started in Israel a year ago. The firm recently established a headquarters in New York City and is launching in the US market.

It hopes to spread internationally as licensing deals in other countries are worked out.

© 2008 AFP