Today, Amazon launched Login with Amazon, a new service that will enable its customers simply login to apps, games, and websites. Seperately, the company announced plans to make five original TV series. Login with Amazon reduces sign-in friction by eliminating the need for users to create an account and password, and instead allows them to sign-in using their existing Amazon account information. Amazon customers can choose to share certain attributes of their account profile with apps, games, and websites by using Login with Amazon.

Login with Amazon is available at no charge to developers of apps, games, and websites. The service is based on the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework, allowing developers to leverage a widely-adopted open protocol.

Amazon.com also said on Wednesday that it will make five original TV series, based on the viewer's feedback the company received in order to pick the shows out of a group of 14 pilots filmed earlier this year.

The chosen pilots are: "Alpha House", a political comedy starring John Goodman; "Betas", a comedy about start-up culture in Silicon Valley; "Annebots", a kids' show about robots; "Creative Galaxy", an animated art adventure series; and "Tumbleaf", another kids' show about a small blue fox named Fig.

Amazon's move represents a foray for the company into original programming delivered over the Internet, stepping up competition with Netflix Inc and Hulu.

The series will be shown exclusively on Amazon's Prime Instant Video service later this year and in early 2014, the company said. Prime Instant Video is free for members of Amazon's Prime service, which offers two-day shipping and other benefits in the United States for $79 a year.