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Today’s Deal on Amazon is a limited time and quantity offer from BLU.  Starting at 11AM EST (8AM PST), you can pick up the brand new BLU VIVO XL2 for just $99.  Normally this dual-SIM phone is $149 and for what you get at $99, is a pretty good deal.  It is powered by the MediaTek quad-core process running at 1.4GHz and coupled with the Mali-T720 GPU.  It has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage built in.  That internal storage can be expanded an additional 64GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  It has a 3150 mAh battery and supports Quick Charge technology for faster charging.  Camera wise, the VIVO XL2 has a 13MP main camera with Phase Detection Auto Focus while the front camera is an 8MP shooter.

Screen wise, you will be getting a 5.5″ screen that renders HD quality.  It is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 while to go along with the great display, you get DTS surround sound audio from the ample speakers built into the phone.

Like other BLU devices, the VIVO XL2 is sold unlocked and works with GSM carriers here in the United States like AT&T, T-Mobile and Cricket.  Here are the GSM and LTE bands for reference so you can double-check that it will work for you.

• HSDPA 850 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
• LTE band 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 7(2600), 12(700), 17(700)

Finally, VIVO XL2 runs Android Marshmallow but be aware that BLU has given no indication of when a Nougat update will come for the phone.

The $99 deal on the VIVO XL2 will go until supplies run out.  Head over to Amazon to get more details and to order yours starting at 11AM Eastern.

Google Translate has an update rolling out for Android that brings instant translation to and from Japanese to English.  Now you can point your phone’s camera to a book, sign or other text in English and it will instantly translate it to Japanese on your phone or vise versa.  It brings the total number of instant translation languages to 30 in the app of the 103 languages available.

Instant translations come into play best when you are in a country with a supported language and need help with signs as you navigate around a city.  Depending on the country, like Japan where the dialect is vastly different than English, that can be challenging which is where Google Translate really shines.

After rolling out to a limited number of users in a limited number of regions, Instagram has thrown the switch to give everyone Live Stories in the social sharing app.  If you are running the latest version of the app on your Android phone, you now have the option to create a live story by tapping on your profile icon at the top of the main display in the app.  There you will see the new Live feature where you can immediately start live streaming yourself or an event.

Functionally, this new feature in Instagram works like the Live feature in Facebook.  One interesting thing however is that once you are done with the live story in Instagram, it is gone.  They disappear after it is over and do not appear in your timeline.

Google+ has a new feature rolling out that allows you to quickly see how posts you have made are being received.  Called Your Influence, it is found on your Google+ profile next to the About button.  There you will find an overflow menu (the three vertical dots) which you can tap and then see your stats.  The stats can be viewed for the last 7 days or the last 30 days and give you a lot of information about how many new followers you have, how many new collection followers you have for your collections and the influence of your posts.

The feature is rolling out now so it make take a few more hours for everyone to see it.