Internet retailer Amazon is planning to launch a new streaming video service.

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos has been speaking at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego and said that the company had been looking at putting a new service to market in the "next few weeks", according to Forbes.

He added that Amazon wants to offer a "sensible alternative" to the current market leader iTunes when it comes to digital downloads from its online store.

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Amazon is launching two applications for Facebook, which could transform the relationship between online retailing and social networking media.

Amazon Giver and Amazon Grapevine will link Amazon's "wish lists" and product reviews functionalities into Facebook profiles, so that friends can view and be alerted to one another's activities.

With the format war over Amazon.com has cut the prices of films on Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Amazon.com introduced its e-book reader, the Kindle, back on November 19, and if you've been fortunate enough to get one -- they've been back-ordered since day one, when they sold out in just over five hours -- chances are you're enjoying it immensely. I've never seen or touched one.

More rumors are surfacing around Amazon offering DRM-free MP3s to compete with Apple's iTunes. Only this time the rumors include other MP3 download services and are coming from the mainstream press (does that make it more or less credible?). Looks like certain key executives have converted to the idea that digital downloads should be sold as unprotected MP3s.