[November 29, 2012]

Rounds Launches First-Ever Mobile Hangout Network, Combining Shared Entertainment & Video Chat into Interactive Fun

Providing the best hangout experiences on the web since 2010, Rounds (www.rounds.com) launched today the mobile version of their social entertainment platform - available worldwide for free - dubbed, "Rounds Video Chat Hangout."

Simple to use and compatible with iPhone 4-4S-5 and the most popular Android devices, users can hang out and share media while video chatting with their mobile contacts and Facebook (News - Alert) friends - including watching YouTube videos together; switching between five view modes and adding crazy video effects; uploading photos to view together; taking snapshots of their live, shared moments and scribbling over each other's live video streams. Coming soon, users will also be able to send each other short video messages (SVM) and play HTML5-based games together.

The action isn't only in the hangout sessions, but also the interactions around the "Shared Moments" stream - featuring snapshots from friends' and featured users' live sessions - which greets the Rounds community each time the app is opened, creating the first social network around hangouts. Users can follow, share, like and comment on the captured moments their friends have made together in past hangouts, find new people to engage and receive feedback on their own shared moments.

Leaders in merging entertainment and communication to bring people closer together and bridge between the offline and online worlds, the Rounds platform has over 6 million users - spending an average of 40 minutes hanging out in over 1 million sessions per day. The cross-platform phenomenon already connects users between its popular Facebook app, Chrome application and desktop version for Mac & PC. Users play over thirty different games and activities developed using the platform's open API. The Rounds community is set to erupt again, once mobile users join the fun.

"Video chat is an indispensable part of Rounds, but it's just the tip of the hangout network we're building," said Rounds CEO Dany Fishel. "The internet has enough ways to communicate essential messages with video. Rounds is about stretching the lve connection into a true hangout mode - less about what's being said, and more about being and doing things together, and recreating the feeling people have when they hang out in real life. And because real life doesn't just happen behind a desktop, we've always known Rounds was destined to become mobile. Rounds Video Chat Hangout is the next step in achieving our vision as the online hangout scene for real friends."

Initial launch features include:

• Shared YouTube (News - Alert) Viewing - Memes to go Wherever you find the next nugget of golden video goodness - in a tweet on the street, sipping your Facebook news feed as you stand in line somewhere - watch it and laugh together with friends.
• Shared Photo Uploads - Users can upload their own images for live viewing together with friends, supplying an endless emotional component to video chats - and guaranteeing you'll never run out of things to talk about.
• Scribble on Friends' Video Images - Because who doesn't look better with blacked out teeth and a purple mustache
• Video Effects - Funhouse stretchiness, retro-pixilation and infra-red colors are among several video effects users can add to video chats for fun.
• Five View Modes - During sessions, friends can rotate views between side-to-side, top-and-bottom, diagonal split-screen, and "transparent mode," which blurs the video image splice, making it appear as though you're together in the same space.
• Capture Moments - Easily remember and share chat highlights inspired by any of the other features with an in-app snapshot & social sharing feature - recreating the feeling of playing in a live photobooth. Receive comments and likes from friends and get featured on the popular list.
• 'Shared Moments' Stream - Upon opening the app, users are greeted by a social stream of their friends' and featured users' "captured moment" snapshots from live sessions. It's easy to like, comment and catch up on what you missed while you were away.

Available now for download in both iTunes App Store and Google Play. Watch the introductory video at www.bit.ly/roundsvideo. An optimized iPad version and all-new Rounds destination site connecting users between mobile, desktop and Facebook, with new features and shared games, activities and experiences are expected in early 2013.

About Rounds

As the web's first social "hangout network," Rounds combines online entertainment with video communication to bring friends and like-minded people closer together for a fun, live experience across social networks, operating systems and devices. Bridging the offline and online worlds, Rounds uses shared activities, games and video to give friends the feeling of hanging out in real life. An interactive stream of friends' and featured users' "captured moments" from live sessions gives hangouts an afterlife, creating a new social network around them. Rounds has raised a total of $5.5 million in funding from industry leading investors, including Verizon (News - Alert) Ventures, Rhodium, DFJ's Tim Draper, and other private investors. Download the Rounds application at www.rounds.com/getapp. For more information, visit www.rounds.com/getapp/prgetapp.

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