With mobile apps and other technology innovations affecting the wealth management industry and other sectors, Paragon Software Group, which develops dictionary and reference applications, has set out what it reckons are the most important trends for 2013 based on customer opinions over the past year.

First, it notes that in the mobile dictionary market, publishers are no longer competing with each other. Instead, everyone is competing against Google and other free translation sources.

Other trends include:

- Users prefer customisable dictionary content based on their language level, skills and needs. The My View feature provided by most dictionary apps allows users to decide what type of information is shown on the screen.

- The dictionary becomes a life-long investment for the user, with new content and feature updates delivered immediately to the device at no extra charge.

- Dictionary apps are becoming more complex and multifaceted, with a single app increasingly presenting the content of multiple print editions with a special emphasis on grammar.

-  Multiplatform support is fundamental. If the user switches from one device to another, or uses several devices, they can have the same reference content available on all devices.

- Translation and reference tools will become integral to reading foreign literature.  

- Interest in dialects and less common languages will increase. Collaboration with regional publishers and individual authors will bring additional languages and tools to the mobile dictionary market.

- Interest in expert and specialised dictionary content is growing. Demand will increase for dictionaries tailored for specific jobs or occupations.

- Demand for electronic dictionaries and reference applications for smartphones and tablets has increased during 2012.

Meanwhile, the firm said it has “completely stopped” development for BlackBerry, a platform it has supported in the past; BlackBerry applications represented just 1 per cent of the company’s sales during 2012. Development for both Samsung’s bada and Windows Phone 7 has also ended, as together they barely reached 0.4 per cent of total sales.

“Paragon is optimistic about the prospects for Windows Phone 8, especially if new and interesting devices appear on the market,” it added.