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We mentioned a round of funding for IMinent on Tuesday, and somehow the folks at Mashable France have managed to get access from the founder. You can now test the service at beta.iminent.com.
IMinent figures you shouldn't have to limit yourself to emoticons when using an IM client. You should be able to incorporate some multimedia functionality in there too. They're offering up a way to use videos, called Emovids, instead of bouncy smiley faces. That's fun. IMinent has a catalog to choose Emovids that other users have already submitted, or you can upload your own from your computer, webcam or cell phone. Add comments and rank each EMOvid, and add the ones you like best to your favorites list. This gives you quick access to the perfect EMOvid when the situation presents itself. IMinent has some Emovids for situations I wouldn't have thought of, like a wedding invitation clip, and some funny ones too, like Dr. Evil's son saying "you're an idiot."
IMinent's biggest downfall is the necessity to download it. Fortunately you can still view clips without being a registered member, but in order to become a member and participate further, you have to download their service. This could be burdensome for someone that would like to add a clip, or leave comments from a computer other than the one they've downloaded the application onto. As we mentioned before, even though IMinent is a fun add-on, it may not be enough to convince people to download another application. As with many other feature-based services, a larger company like AOL could produce this service themselves and leave few options for IMinent's success.
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Editor's Note: We'll grab some screenshots, too - this is a good-looking app.