Look Out, USA, Rounds is Coming!

Rounds, the company formerly known as 6rounds, has launched a new mobile phone application set to bring millions of users into its network.

The company markets itself as a social network, but unlike Facebook or MySpace (News - Alert), focuses heavily on users’ ability to video chat with one another.

Once heavily criticized for its lack of innovation, Rounds has answered the call with this new app that is expected to bolster new sign-ups and enhance the user experience.

The application allows many people to video chat between long distances, but while in these “hangout” chats, users can share YouTube (News - Alert) videos, images and other media with each other. This, the company argues, enhances the experience between users that might otherwise have a simple chat via webcam.

According to one report, “Rounds has over 6 million users who spend an average of 40 minutes a day ‘hanging out,’ mainly via the Facebook (News - Alert) app.” With the launch of its new mobile phone program, the company expects to add “more than 80,000 new users in the first 48 hours.”

More users means more ad revenue for the company, and its market share will likely increase.

Currently, Rounds is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is not very well known in larger markets of Europe and North America. Later this year, the company will seek to increase its financing, move its CEO to the United States, and launch a marketing campaign that will target specific demographics to its application on both Facebook and mobile phone devices.

As it stands, Rounds competes with other video sharing software programs and platforms, such as Skype (News - Alert) and Google Video Chat, as well as a host of smaller companies offering similar technologies to install on mobile devices.

The company’s marketing scheme will have to be strategic enough to pull in a significant chunk of the market by selling its functionality to a public largely using established video chat programs.