I admit it. I had no idea what Rounds (formerly 6rounds) was when a friend invited me to check it out. My first thought was that it’s just another TinyChat or Google Hangout. After about 3 minutes in, I realized it was much more than that.
The easiest way to describe it is as a video chat client for Facebook or on the web that puts fun into the conversation. It’s not just another Skype. It gives users the ability to play around both with themselves and with each other. Play games, use webcam effects, bounce around a la Tinychat (but with “safety features”) – the features are designed for more than simply chatting.
Mutual browsing allows chatters to surf together on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and other sites. The drawback – it’s one-on-one only. Currently, there is no group chatting feature. Here’s a video, albeit an old one, that shows a little of what is possible:
With over 600,000 chat sessions daily, the company looks poised to hit the “big time.” Will it steal some thunder from the recently-introduced features that juggernauts Google and Facebook revealed? Time will tell, but here’s an infographic that tells us more about Rounds and how it stacks up.
I discovered the Facebook app a little while ago and was pleasantly surprised too! And now I’m addicted to playing backgammon on webcam with my sister-in-law. Oh well…