FAMILIAR VOICES INTERNET SPEAK TO GO LOONEY.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

To their credit, Internet chat and instant messaging have brought some thrill and spontaneity to what is essentially typing and reading on a computer.

The silent exchange of gossip, plans and random thoughts is about to take voice through computer-enabled smart toys that read your incoming messages in the unmistakable lisp of Daffy Duck or the ``Terminator's'' robotic growl.

``I'll be back'' never seemed a more appropriate sign off for a chat session.

Burbank-based Warner Bros. Consumer Products is the latest company to license its characters to United Internet Technologies, Inc., a Westwood company that hopes to have these $20 toys on shelves by September.

``The Looney Tunes groundbreaking irreverence makes them a perfect fit for this new interactive frontier,'' said Karen McTier, Warners' executive vice president for domestic licensing.

An estimated 120 million people use computer chat services each day, including some 30 million kids.

The table-top ``Chat Pals'' are expected to include plush versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety and the Tasmanian Devil.

UIT separately licensed the ``Terminator'' character, which will be made of brushed aluminum, and has plans for more models, including some with more than one voice.

``They look like, speak like and sound like these cartoon characters,'' said UIT President and Chief Executive Brian Shuster.

If a person gives permission, their toy's movements can be controlled from afar by a chat buddy using a joy stick, mouse or keyboard.

``Their arms and heads and mouths move,'' Shuster said. ``The first generation don't actually walk. The second ones do.''

There are even plans for these toys to pipe up when, for example, a Looney Tunes cartoon comes on television and give helpful hints for certain video or computer games.

This is made possible with UIT's I-C-IT technology, a communications code that must be embedded in the toys and the Internet chat and instant messaging systems such as America Online.

Shuster said the company is in negotiations to get its technology on major portals, but declined to give more detail.

Warner Bros. Consumer Products is a division of Warner Bros., part of AOL Time Warner Inc.

The Intelligent Control Interactive Technology can also be used over cable, broadcast and wireless networks, enabling appliances, medical monitors and other devices to become ``smart products'' that can interact with others.

The Looney Tunes characters are expected to speak in their recognizable cartoon voice, but the ``Terminator'' will not use the voice of Arnold Schwarzennegger.

The toys connect to a computer by serial port or infrared connection.

The Looney Tunes characters are expected to have nostalgic value for adults who grew up with the cartoons, Shuster said.

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(color) The Terminator, above, as well as voices of Looney Tunes characters will be available for reading Internet messages.