Nokia has latched onto its key advantage over arch-rival Apple's iPhone 4: you can hold the Finns' phones virtually anyway you want.

Apple attracted derision from some techies and accusations of discrimination from lefties when it told the world that flakey reception of the iPhone 4 was down to the way people were holding the talking light boxes.

Nokia's comms team quickly hit back with this handy guide to ways of holding a Nokia.

It lists no less than four grips — which should satisfy most humans, and even most of the lower primates. Each offers its own advantage, the Finns argue, while none results in signal degradation.

The cup, apparently, enables you to cup the phone with your whole hand. Nokia adds, "This might result in much of the phone’s edges being covered and the back of the device sitting snugly in the palm of your hand — but don’t be concerned about this, it won’t impact the device’s performance."

With the balance, "Use your little finger as a ledge for the bottom edge of the phone to rest on, with the index and middle fingers performing a double act to keep the device stable at the back."

The four edge grip means "You’ll find a little gap develops between the back of the phone and the palm, which is useful. For something."

With the thumb and finger grip, Nokia suggests "you might like to place the index finger towards the centre of the top of the device for extra stability."

Mmm. We suspect it was actually the middle finger Nokia was actually thinking of there. ®