At the 1964 World's fair, AT&T wowed attendees with a video phone, and their 1969 annual report predicted that by 1980 they would sell $1 billion worth of the devices. That never happened, obviously, with opinions on why ranging from technical limitations to customer fear of transmitting their bedhead.

AT&T is back with a variation of the theme, today announcing their new Video Share service, which lets their 3G wireless phone users transmit live video to others during conversation. Users can pay $4.99 each month for 25 minutes of Video Share usage or $9.99 each month for 60 minutes of usage. The company also says users can "pay as they go" for 35 cents per minute of use.

The service is initially available in their Atlanta, Dallas and San Antonio markets, with further markets available by July. The company says users will eventually be able to share the video via their "three screen initiative" (read: you'll someday be able to share video content between U-Verse/Homezone, your mobile phone and your PC).

A recent report argued that 3G videophones would never take off because such devices make it harder to lie.