Amazon updates Web services tool

A new version of Amazon.com's Web services tool allows third parties to embed Amazon's shopping cart technology into their own Web sites. Other new features in the latest version of the tool, due out Monday, include a chat function and the ability to search by price range.

The tool gives developers direct access to the online retailer's product catalog, letting them create new paths to the data stored there. The service is part of the company's associates program, which lets individuals refer customers to Amazon and get a cut of the subsequent sales. Many people have used Amazon's application programming interface (API) to set up their own storefronts, filled entirely with Amazon products.

Amazon, which launched its Web services feature in July 2002, said it now has 25,000 developers in the program. While many developers have used the API service to run their own storefronts, others have created more unusual services, such as "light" versions of the catalog that allow for faster searches.

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