Igloo is adding HTML file conversion to improve how we display documents and video. And it's coming in Scone, our latest product release, on August 30.

The new conversion engine and document viewer removes Igloo's dependency on Flash allowing you to view a diverse array of file, image and audio formats inside your browser, on any device, without having to download the file or open an external application.

Document Preview

Igloo has integrated with an open source web-based document viewer to quickly display files as HTML or Adobe Flash depending on your browser. There are a couple of things to note. 

First, the interface is slightly different. You'll have all the same controls you've grown accustomed to (e.g. print, search, zoom), plus we've added support for touch gestures (i.e. pinch and zoom) for mobile visitors and a few additional viewing options. You can select the traditional view (single page), storybook (two pages) or thumbnail views. You even have the ability to rotate a file, so it's no longer necessary to be a contortionist to read a document that's uploaded in landscape mode (and displayed sideways).

Second, we support a wide range of file types, including Microsoft Office (doc(x), xls(x), csv, ppt(x)), pdf, txt, rtf, msg and vsd. We also take advantage of progressive loading, reducing bandwidth usage by downloading just the pages requested by the user. It's a richer experience and we think you'll like it. 

The screenshot below captures the new document previewer in action.

Video Preview

We'd be remiss if we didn't talk about video as well. Igloo has integrated with an open source HTML5 video and audio player to enable you to upload and embed videos with HTML5 playback on virtually any device.

All videos are converted to two formats: Standard Definition (SD) or 360p and High Definition (HD) or 720p. With intelligent device detection, SD is served up for mobile browsers, while HD is used for the desktop experience. A wide selection of video formats are also supported, including asf, avi, flv, m4v, mkv, mov, movie, mp4, mpe, mpeg, mpg, ogv, viv, and wmv.

The screenshot below captures the new video preview (while we wait for the cool embed code). 

Browser and Device Support Matrix

Files will now display on any device from PCs to smartphones by combining support for HTML5, HTML4 and Flash. The chart below outlines how the technologies are prioritized across different file types and browsers.