AOL Time Warner

AOL Time Warner‘s $100 million investment in e-tailer Amazon.com this week highlights an emerging, high-stakes battle between the media giant and Microsoft. Long-time foes in areas such as instant messaging and online access, AOL and Microsoft are facing off in the e-commerce arena — specifically over technology that makes it easier to navigate the Web and make purchases online. So-called e-wallets — which store commonly requested information such as a login name, shipping address and credit card number — are shaping up as a key leverage point for controlling how consumers and businesses use the Internet