Tech Roundup: 1Password Masked Email, Amazon Astro & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• South Korea's regulatory body, the Korea Communications Commission, mandates Apple and Google to turn in by mid-October compliance plans for a recently passed legislation that bars both app store operators from forcing software developers to use their in-app payment systems.
• Facebook officially launches Reels on its namesake social network on Android and iOS in the U.S., and tests new ability that lets "creators to have their reels recommended on Facebook."
• Netflix acquires its first game studio, Night School Studio, a 2014-founded company best known for the game Oxenfree, as part of its latest push into games; licenses three new titles Shooting Hoops, Teeter Up, and Card Blast, allowing users in Poland, Spain and Italy to download and install the games using their Netflix accounts.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation announces plans to deprecate HTTPS Everywhere plugin in 2022 after widespread adoption of encryption by mainstream browsers with native support for an HTTPS-only mode.
• Microsoft opens up its own app store in Windows, inviting alternate app stores to integrate into the Microsoft Store, paving the way for both Amazon and Epic Games Store to be discoverable in the app distribution platform; starts to test integration of Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) game streaming service with Xbox consoles.
• Apple finally begins allowing users to rate and review its own built-in apps for iPhone and iPad on the App Store with iOS 15.

• Amazon debuts a slew of Alexa-enabled home and personal security devices, including Smart Thermostat (US$ 60); Blink Video Doorbell with Alexa integration and 1080P video (US$ 50); Astro, a mobile home-assistant robot with an Echo Show-like 10-inch display on top that's designed to "proactively patrol your home, investigate activity, and send you notifications when it detects something unusual" (US$ 1,000); a US$ 19.99/month Alexa Together elder care subscription service with an emergency helpline feature, care alerts, and tools for caregivers; Ring Alarm Pro with a built-in Eero network, package delivery alerts, and an optional Virtual Security Guard subscription (US$ 250); Echo Show 15 with a wall-mountable smart display (US$ 250); two new services Halo Fitness (for interactive home video workouts) and Halo Nutrition (a personalised, guided meal planner) aimed at fitness tracking using Halo View wristband (US$ 80), and Amazon Glow, a projector-based interactive device that "combines video calling with connected activities" for children. (US$ 250).
• Amazon-owned Twitch rolls out the option for streamers to require phone and email-verified accounts in chat, as part of the company's effort to reduce targeted harassment.
• Google announces Lens image recognition platform for Chrome on the desktop, and rolls out new options to use the technology to search for products within images via Google app for iPhone as well as allow users to combine text and images in search queries.
• Password management servcie 1Password partners with email host Fastmail to introduce Masked Email, which creates unique emails for signing into accounts, following the footsteps of Apple, which has launched sign in features like Sign in with Apple and Hide my email in recent years.
• Image sharing service Imgur, which boasts of 300 million users, gets acquired by holding company MediaLab, which owns Kik, Whisper, Genius, WorldStarHipHop, DatPiff, and other brands, expanding its mobile app portfolio.