Amazon continues their transformation from retailer to web application backend-service-provider with the launch of their new SimpleDB service.

The service allows you to offload your database storage and processing to Amazon's Web Services. By combining the use of Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), this new service provides the ability to store, process, and query data sets in the cloud.

Amazon's continued transformation gives developers an option for one less thing to worry about. It also has the ability to scale up instantly, providing another layer of insulation against the "Slashdot" effect.

The service is currently in Limited Beta. You can sign up for the beta from the Amazon Web Services homepage.