[Mark Rejhon]

Some people who used to use a trackwheel have to contend to using the trackball instead. Some of us lament the change in UI behaviour, but some of us adapt. I switched from the 8700 to the 8310 Curve a few months ago, and have learned a whole lot of new methods of using a Curve faster:

Select a Theme with faster access to icons.
1. Change your theme to one of the "Icons" themes rather than "Today" or "Zen" themes.
Show all icons at once. If you frequently access more than 4 icons, you won't like the "Zen" theme. Go to Options->Themes and switch themes so that you can view all icons all at once.

Reposition your frequently used icons for fast launch.
2. Move your two most frequently-launched icons to the upper-left corner and upper-right corner. These icons are the easiest to reach with one swipe of icon on the trackball.
That way, you can blindly spin the trackball diagonally up-left or up-right before clicking on these icons (without needing to look at the screen) because it's much faster and easier to select the top-left or top-right icon without needing to concentrate on accurately selecting the correct icon. I have "Messages" at top-left and "JiveTalk" at top-right. The same trick can be done for the bottom-left and bottom-right icon (as long as you re-position those everytime icons are added or removed). For your still-frequently used applications, position them spatially near the top-left and top-right, so that you only need to scroll one click away from the easily-accessible corners. That way, you can quickly home into one of the four screen corners by a single blind trackball roll, followed by one click to access several additional frequently-used applications.

Use the ENDCALL button as a shortcut key display the main icons screen
Everytime you're in an application, press the ENDCALL button (red phone button) to bring the BlackBerry launcher window back in view. As long as you're not already in a call. Need to lookup an addressbook entry quickly from any application? Hit ENDCALL followed by "A" and you're already in the addressbook (if you turn off "Dial From Home Screen"). Faster than using "Switch Application".

Use application shortcut keypresses by turning OFF the "Dial From Home Screen" Feature
You can enable application launch hotkeys by disabling dialing from home screen. (Phone->Options->General Options->Dial From Home Screen->No). That way, hitting "M" displays Messages, "A" displays Addressbook, "L" displays "Calendar", "F" displays Profiles, "C" composes an email, etc. You can always press STARTCALL before dialing phone numbers, which is safer anyway because it's less likely for a phone number to become accidentally dialed if the BlackBerry is put in a pocket without locking.

Reassign your convenience keys to frequently used applications
You can reassign both the left and the right convenience key of a Curve. I keep the right-hand convenience key configured to Camera, but I reassigned the left-hand convenience key to a more frequently used application than Profiles. Reconfiguring the convenience key can be done in Options->Screen/Keyboard.

Remember the BlackBerry multitasking keypress
The multitask key for "Switch Application" is Alt+Esc. Hold the ALT key and press the Esc (BACK) button. It just like using Alt+Tab in Windows or Option+Tab on a Mac.

Remember the ENDCALL method of multitasking on a BlackBerry
(Must turn off Dial From Home Screen)
You can multitask using the ENDCALL key shortcut too. Hit ENDCALL followed by the icon (or shortcut) of the other running app. So typing ENDCALL+"A" and ENDCALL+"L" will switch between the current view in Addressbook and the current view in Calendar. Very useful for copying and pasting between specific screens in two applications! If the application you are multitasking to, does not have a shortcut key, you can manually select the icon (i.e. JiveTalk).
You may prefer to hold ENDCALL while hitting the key (using ENDCALL like an ALT key), or you can hit ENDCALL first then press the key. Choose the method that is faster for you.

If you like to keylock your BlackBerry, there are several methods:
a) Hold the MUTE key at the top to go into Standby (press it again to wake up, or hold ENDCALL to wake up); or
b) Use the "Keyboard Lock" icon; or
c) Use a convenience key assigned to "Keyboard Lock"
I like the ability to glance at the clock on my BlackBerry even in keylock. Since I use my BlackBerry as my watch, I don't like method (a). As a result, I have gotten used to method (b) and (c) as being my favourite. However, I prefer to use a convenience key for something else so I use method (b). The good news is that there's an easy way to execute "Keyboard Lock" without wasting a convenience key. I simply type "ENDCALL"-"K" as a fast way to keylock a BlackBerry without wasting a convenience key, and without putting it in Standby (as in Mute button). Notice "ENDCALL"-"K" is a similiar (but opposite) motion as "*"-"STARTCALL" for unlocking? (This helps in memorizing quick key locking and unlocking, if you don't want to reassign a convenience key.

Other examples of powerful keypress combinations
1. Typing four keypresses "ENDCALL"-"F"-"L"-"Enter" automatically reconfigures your BlackBerry to a Loud profile. ENDCALL brings the icons back, "F" brings up Profiles, "L" selects Loud, and Enter selects the selected item. That way, I was able to reassign my leftmost convenience key to something else more useful because this provided me of a different quick way to change BlackBerry profiles (which I do less often than launch my most frequently used application)
2. Likewise typing "ENDCALL"-"C"-"smi"-"Enter" starts composing an email to the first person whose name begins with "Smi" (such as "Smith")
3. Since my JiveTalk icon is always the upper-right corner, I just hit "ENDCALL"-(one diagonal swipe of thumb)-click to switch to Jivetalk, which is useful if I receive JiveTalk messages while in another applications. JiveTalk has no key shortcut, so this is the one-swipe trackball trick (Reposition your frequently used icons for fast launch)