The only recent excitement in the world of .gif files was the creator telling everybody to pronounce it like ‘jif’ (I will continue pronouncing it ‘gif’ like ‘gift’.) The website Gfycat modernizes the animated image format, saving bandwidth and improving compatibility.
Gfycat starts off as a simple image uploading site with an emphasis on .gif files. It then proceeds to optimize the files to make them more mobile friendly with smaller file sizes or converting the gif to an HTML5 video. The player automatically chooses the best player for the device visiting the site. The image below is from an example gif I uploaded to Gfycat. It shrunk the 4MB file into a 470KB file, or 1/8 the size of the original.
Gfycat saves bandwidth and speeds up viewing of the animated images.It also allows playback control of the animation such as pause, reverse, or changing playback speed. You can upload a .gif file you have on your computer or from the web as well as video clips from YouTube and other streaming video providers.
You can still link directly to the .gif file or you can let Gfycat choose which format to show. Here’s a direct link to the Gfycat image or below is a demo of it being embedded.
For more details, check out http://gfycat.com/about