T-Mobile USA has officially announced the RIM BlackBerry Pearl phone which will begin shipping on September 12th and should run $199 with a 2-year service contract. Originally known in the tech buzz as the 8100, the Pearl is the first BlackBerry to include a camera and other multimedia features.

Besides different multimedia features, the biggest difference with the Pearl is that it utilizes a front-facing trackball (previous BlackBerry models have until recently relied on a side facing scroll wheel). The trackball is located above the keyboard of the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone. To navigate up, down, left, and right, you will simply need to roll the trackball; to select an item, click the trackball. If you click the trackball while using certain applications, a more extensive list of options will appear.

To get mentally prepared for the new Blackberry Pearl launch, Pinstack.com has released a very comprehensive guide to using the sleek new phone. Here are some highlights from their guide regarding good-to-know shortcuts:

Basic Keyboard Shortcuts

• To move the cursor, roll the trackball.
• To exit a screen or to move to a previous page in a browser, press the Escape key.
• To move upwards in a screen, press 3.
• To move downwards in a screen, press 9.
• To move to the top of a screen, press 1.
• To move to the bottom of a screen, press 7.
• To move to the next item, press 6.
• To move to the previous item, press 4.
• To move to a list item or menu item, type the first letter of the item.
• To select or clear a check box, click the trackball.
• To select adjacent items, hold the Shift key and roll the trackball.
• To delete a selected item, press the Delete key.
• To switch applications, hold the Alt key and press the Escape key. Continue holding the Alt key and select an application. Release the Alt key.
• To return to the Home screen, press the End key.
• To lock the keyboard, from the Home screen, hold the asterisk ( * ) key.
• To unlock the keyboard, hold the Send key and press the asterisk ( * ) key. Type your password.
• To switch between the Default and Vibrate notification profiles, from the Home screen, hold the pound ( # ) key.
• To turn on a theme or notification profile, select a theme or notification profile, then press the Space key.

Phone Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the phone application or during a phone call:

• To answer a phone call, press the Send key.
• To place an active phone call on hold and answer a second incoming phone call, press the Send key.
• To view the contact list, hold the Send key.
• To insert a plus sign ( + ) when typing a phone number, hold 0.
• To add an extension to a phone number, press the X key, then type the extension number.
• To assign a speed dial number to a key, from the Home screen or in the Phone application, hold the key you want to assign. Type the phone number.
• To check your voice mail, hold 1.
• To view the last phone number that you dialed, scroll to the top of the Phone screen, then press the Enter key. Press the Send key to dial the number.

Camera Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Camera application:

• To take a picture, press the Right Convenience key.
• To zoom the camera in, press the Volume Up key.
• To zoom the camera out, press the Volume Down key.

Message Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Messages application:

• To compose a message from the message list, press the comma ( , ) key.
• To reply to a message, press the exclamation point ( ! ) key.
• To reply to all, press the question mark ( ? ) key.
• To forward a message, press the period ( . ) key.
• To view received messages, hold the Alt key and press 3.
• To view call logs, hold the Alt key and press the period ( . ) key.
• To view voice mail messages, hold the Alt key and press 7.
• To view SMS text messages, hold the Alt key and press the question mark ( ? ) key.
• To view your message list again, press the Escape key.
• To move up a message in the list, press 2.
• To move down a message in the list, press 8.

Media Shortcuts

The following shortcuts can be used in the Media application:

• To pause a video, press the Mute key. To resume playing the video, press the Mute key again.
• To zoom in to a picture, press 3.
• To zoom out from a picture, press 9.
• To return to the original picture size, press 5.
• To rotate a picture, press the comma ( , ) key.
• To pause a slide show, press the Space key. To resume the slide show, press the Space key again.
• To pause a song, press the Mute key. To resume playing the song, press the Mute key again.