My Triumph Connectivity Review

This is an update on the My Triumph Connectivity section of my original review of the Triumph Trident 660 motorcycle. 

Here's my setup:

• Triumph Trident 660 with My Triumph Connectivity module (dealer install)
• Sena SMH10D-10 Motorcycle Bluetooth Headset/Intercom headset mounted on a white SHOEI RF-1200 helmet
• iPhone 13 with latest iOS version and My Triumph app
• iPhone is paired to both Sena headset and Trident

Issues I highlighted in previous review:

• Frequent (once a week) disconnection to whatever I was listening
• Navigation (setup via My Triumph app on iPhone) frequently gets stuck
• Volume controls on bike don't work (others do: next/forward, track info, play/pause)
• Not an operational issue, but unit cost $250-ish + dealer install of $300 = $550 is a bit high. 

Here's the solution I figured out:

• Disconnects: Don't pair the phone to both Sena headset and bike. Here's the recommended pairing
• Pair the phone to just the bike; do not pair/connect it to the Sena headset (remove/unpair the headset from Settings > Bluetooth)
• The bike is paired to both the iPhone and Sena headset; it serves as the "hub"
• Note: once your bike is on/ignition (engine does not have to be on) and headset is on... it takes about 5 seconds for them to all find/connect to each other. 
• Navigation: 
• Set the My Triumph app to have "Always On" location access, instead of only when using the app. 
• Bad part of this is that the app has location access even when you're not using the app. (iPhone > Settings > Privacy > Location Services > My Triumph). Obviously this is bad for privacy and potentially drains the battery, and the iPhone will warn you about it. 
• UPDATE: this seems to have been fixed so you can use "While Using" only. 
• Volume control from bike is still a problem. It works from my Sena headset but only upto the max setting of the phone... so I have to remember to crank it up before starting the ride. iPhone somehow does not seem to use a Bluetooth device specific volume for the bike/Sena. 

Cheap Phones in India?

There's an interesting article on how the iPhone could provide some pricing power to the vendors on Telephony Magazine's website: The iPhone effect.


I do agree that the iPhone could bring pricing power to the vendors. All the me-too phones will be priced close to the $350-$450 range. Looking at WiMAX I feel like reviving the concept of a killer device! The killer app for personal mobile broadband is certainly checking email/gmail, finding local Google Maps (which hopefully is integrated with the GPS). Mobile TV will be a hit once the power/battery issue is resolved, i.e. either new more powerful batteries come out, or watching mobile tv in a place where the device is powered externally, either in a car, coffeeshop or a friend's home...

But I am not convinced about the observation made in the article, and in numerous other articles & analyst reports, that phones in the developing world are sold at low prices. A lot of the middle-class people I know in India buy their phones outright, with no carrier subsidies. And the phone prices typically range from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000. That is about $220 to $440 @ Rs.45 = USD 1.

And these are not high-end phones, but phones very similar to the 'middle-end' phones that we in the US use.

Obviously this is a large investment for a (economically speaking) middle-class person, but this is the largest cellphone segment in India right now. The lower-class user base (the drivers, peons, small grocers, ), who buy the really cheap and often second-hand phones, is growing pretty fast.