Icecat Release Notes 129 – 131: Video Distribution, S3 Storage, and Updated Icecat LIVE

In these Icecat Release Notes 129 – 131 we will discuss the video distribution and the new S3 storage. Furthermore, we highlight the new video encoder service, extended Javascript library for Icecat LIVE. Finally, we explain the repairability index. Here the previous Icecat Release Notes 128.

Sprints Under the Pennant of Video Distribution

During the last sprints, we focused a lot of our efforts on matters not visible on a first glance, nevertheless crucial to keep our service competitive and satisfy users. The distribution of video via Icecat is expanding. We gathered three separate big requests, each of them about video content from a different perspective.

To fulfill those requests, we needed to increase storage capacity and stability, improve speed, support comparability of video formats, and easy integration of videos for desktop and mobile versions of client websites. We have tackled all these requirements at once.

New S3 Storage

Firstly, our team successfully tested, configured, and pushed to production our new S3 Storage. It stores product assets such as images, videos, and documents. It has a superior speed, stability, capacity, and backup possibilities in comparison with its predecessor. We choose reasons-to-buy as the first asset type to migrate to S3. It became our proof of concept. The storage migration process was performed seamlessly for end users. The only thing they could notice was a much faster download time. Currently, the migration of the product gallery is in progress. Videos will follow in the near future.

New Video Encoder Service

Secondly, the team developed a prototype of a new video encoder service. It is currently being deployed and tested. It will accept a video both as a link or as a file, put it in a queue, convert it to required video formats, and save these files to our new S3 Storage. This solution fixes the comparability of video formats. For example, it can encode the same video in different qualities so that users use it according to the internet bandwidth of their devices.

Extended JavaScript Library for Icecat Live

Thirdly, we extended the JavaScript library for Icecat live with new functions and improved the player in Icecat Live for a better experience on mobile devices. Customers can now integrate their videos to websites following our short instructions. It was the main focus of the last sprints. 

Repairability Index

Further, we finished work on the Repairability Index and added it to Icecat. What is the Repairability Index? France introduced the Repairability Index in 2021. It is basically a score ranging from 0 to 10 for five categories of electronic devices. It informs customers about the availability of repair options when they purchase a new phone or laptop, for example. Several custom reports were created or updated for our clients. We fixed the hottest support tickets.

Preview of the next sprint

A new interface for reports was developed and is ready to be put as BETA on the next release. We still have two months before the hot season begins to receive feedback and improve it even more.