For this mashup, to access the Amazon ECS APIs we will be using the Amazon ECS Ruby module developed by Herryanto Siatono and to show the sales ranking and number of customer reviews, we will be using Joe Gregorio's Sparklines web service.
The Amazon E-Commerce Services (ECS) API is a web service API accessible through SOAP and REST that provides access to Amazon.com's online retail platform. Using these web services, developers can:
Find items that are available on sale on Amazon.com, either by Amazon.com itself or by other merchants
Get detailed information on the items including pricing and availability
Get customer reviews on the items, including customer ratings
Find items that are similar
Create and manage remote shopping carts at Amazon.com
To use the Amazon ECS API as a developer you need to register for an Amazon Web Service (AWS) access key ID. This access ID is used with every request that you send to the Amazon ECS.