Sprint to offer BlackBerry Curve 9350 Sept. 9 for $80

Well, that was quick. Earlier this morning, RIM introduced its new BlackBerry Curve and now, the entry-level smartphone has its first U.S. carrier.

Sprint just announced that it will offer the BlackBerry Curve 9350 starting September 9 for $79.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate, while Sprint business customers may qualify to get the handset for $49.99 on a business account.

The Curve 9350 is a CDMA-only device, so you won't get world-roaming capabilities, but the BlackBerry OS 7 smartphone does offer a 2.44-inch, 480x360-pixel display, an 800MHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 512MB RAM and a preinstalled 2GB microSD card. The handset also offers NFC and BlackBerry Bridge support if you own a PlayBook.

In addition to the Curve, Sprint also offers the new BlackBerry Torch 9850 for $149.99 on contract and BlackBerry Bold 9930 for $249.99 on contract, though you can save $50 by purchasing the phone online.