Cambridge, UK-based start-up Netcentric Solutions Ltd -not connected to, but bound to be confused with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Netcentric Corp – says it plans to launch its first product, a Java word processor application in the second quarter of 1998, and will follow up with modules offering spreadsheet and presentation facilities. The privately held company, formed in January this year, is currently alpha testing the software and says it’s looking at several leads for venture funding and worldwide partnerships. It says the base module, Netcentric Write, offers all the standard functions of a word processor in around 150k of memory. Netcentric envisages selling the software as an internet download priced at under 50 pounds with add-on applications available at the bargain basement price of around 5 pounds, although the final cost has yet not yet been determined. The first release will also come with an optional email module, which the company says will be tightly integrated with the word processing application. The six person start up began life as a services company, designing intranets and web sites for the likes of Sun Microsystems Inc and AT&T Corp. Technical Director Keith Garrett says he expects competition to come from the likes of IBM’s Lotus Development Corp and Hamburg, Germany-based office suite specialist Star Division GmBH.