Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) 
is looking to build its developer community with the release of
new Web services that make it easier to use Amazon e-commerce services and
take advantage of Amazon's Alexa Web page information, browsing and search
capabilities.
The Seattle-based company said its free Amazon E-Commerce Suite 4.0 would deliver better access to Amazon's platform and product data, while the Alexa Web Information Service (AWIS) would allow the first access ever to Amazon's database of Web site information and usage data.
Both Web services, released and available online, are being offered to developers free, but the AWIS access and tools will be available at no cost only during a beta period, Amazon said.
"The aim is basically to help our developer community and to give them
the tools they need to create really cool and creative applications," said
Amazon Web Services program manager 
Jeff Barr. The
company has registered more than 65,000 developers since sign-ups began two
years ago, Barr told TechNewsWorld.
Appeasing Support
Amazon's new e-commerce suite of Web services includes customer reviews and more detailed information in product categories. The company said its ECS 4.0 would give developers improved shopping cart functionality and an easier-to-use application programming interface (API).
The new AWIS, based in Amazon's 1999 acquisition of Alexa, would give developers with programming access the information of the service's Web Crawl -- more than 100 terabytes of information such as URL, categories and meta data that can be browsed and searched.
According to Barr, Amazon hopes that the increased amount of data per item will whet the appetite of its developers.
"We're really going to make sure we have access to all the new categories," he said.
Barr added that Amazon released the services specifically to meet the needs of its developer community.
Developer Strength
Yankee Group senior analyst Zeus Kerravala, who said Amazon's new Web services represent "the promise of what Web services was always supposed to bring," views the move as a necessary investment for Amazon.
"In really any market -- e-commerce is no different -- what makes an organization valuable is the development community around it," Kerravala told TechNewsWorld. "The strength is going to come through the developer community."
Kerravala said he expected to see more Web services announcements and the availability of tools and technologies that allow true integration, indicating that Web services had now matured beyond mere marketing to something useful for developers.
"Now, we're seeing what's really possible, with practical solutions," he said.
Support and Compete
Meta Group vice president Dan Sholler said the Alexa information and access could prove effective in nurturing developers and applications. From a Web services perspective, Sholler said the Amazon announcement marks an evolutionary step that makes Web services more useable.
"It's evidence the collection of technologies, tools and techniques has gotten it to the point where there is some utilization," Sholler told TechNewsWorld. "In the short term, it's possible we'll see substantially greater numbers of these" types of services and announcements.
Sholler said that by providing the services, Amazon is successfully delivering a level of service that competing commercial sites cannot match.
He added, however, that Amazon, as well as rivals such as eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) ,
may face pressure from the market and developers to consolidate technologies
and business processes to continue growing truly integrated Web services.
Talkback: 
