Chi.mp, the “online identity aggregator” that not only gives you a place to aggregate your updates but also gives you a free .mp domain name, just received a major makeover. Chi.mp now allows you to publish your own blog posts and photos on the site. In addition, Chi.mp now lets you customize your site with custom themes and it has gained the ability to push status updates to both Twitter and Facebook.
Blogs, Photos, and Themes
One of the central features of Chi.mp is that it lets you to assume different personas (public, work, friends). With the current update, Chi.mp, for example, gives you the option publish new blog posts and albums that are either public, or only visible to your work contacts or friends. The new blog editor is basic, but it does the trick. Chi.mp, however, can’t yet replace other minimalist blogging services like Tumblr or Posterous.
You can now also set a different theme for each of your personas. Chi.mp gives you 15 default themes and you can also upload your own backgrounds to the service.
The new photo album feature is a bit of a disappointment, however, as it can only handle relatively small images. We couldn’t find any exact information about the limits that Chi.mp is enforcing here, but we weren’t able to upload any images bigger than two megabytes.
Send Updates to Twitter and Facebook
Maybe the most important update is that Chi.mp can now push status updates to Twitter and Facebook. We assume Chi.mp is using Facebook’s new API for publishing these updates.
It’s Getting There
With these updates, Chi.mp is inching closer to fulfilling its promise of delivering a centralized hub for your online personas and life-stream.
Until now, we mostly used Chi.mp as an OpenID provider, but thanks to these updates, we will probably start to use it for the rest of its functions as well.
Sadly, Chi.mp is is still invite-only and we haven’t heard anything about when it will come out of beta. We have had a grand total of three invites left at this point. Just send an email to chimp AT frederic.otherinbox.com if you want one.
