Apple's iPod digital media device has no major challenger from the first generation of mobile music devices, or combination music players and mobile phones a research study concludes.

Global reasearch company Strategy Analytics reports that first generation mobile music devices "receive a failing grade on both sound quality and feature usability." The firm performed head to head benchmarks of the iPod against four leading music-enabled mobile phones -- the Samsung E720, O2's XM, Sony/Ericsson's V800 and the Orange's SPV500 -- and concluded "the 02 XM leads for music feature usability, while the Samsung E720 was rated best overall among a relatively weak set of music phone contenders."

As far as actual ratings for usability, Strategy Analytics gave the iPod a 92 rating, followed by a 82 for the O2 XM, 80 for the Samsung E720, 77 for the SEMC V800, and 76 for the Orange SPV500.

Chris Ambrosio, Vice President of device research, added, "with a 20-plus point performance gap in perceived music quality, handset vendors and operators must do better to realize their visions of mobile music revenues and share support. The next wave of devices from Sony Ericsson (Walkman W600) and Motorola, among others, will have to cross the quality chasm, and provide dedicated music hardware to overcome the weaknesses of these first generation products."

O2 and Orange are mobile phone carrier's in Great Britain and sell many of their models under their own brand name.