A6 BUSINESS STEVEN LONDRE VALLEY: Prices begin to DIALOGUE · day, the conference's final day....

The Associated Press

The Internet is set to undergoone of the biggest changes in itsfour-decade history with theexpected approval this week ofinternational domain names — oraddresses — that can be writtenin non-Latin script, an officialsaid Monday.

The Internet Corporation forAssigned Names and Numbers,or ICANN — the non-profit groupthat oversees domain names — isholding a meeting this week inSeoul. Domain names are themonikers behind every Web site,e-mail address and Twitter post,such as ".com" and other suffixes.

One of the key issues to betaken up this week is whether toallow Internet addresses to be inscripts that are not based onLatin letters. That could poten-tially open up the Web to morepeople around the world asaddresses could be in charactersas diverse as Arabic, Korean, Japa-nese, Greek, Hindi and Cyrillic —in which Russian is written.

"This is the biggest change tech-nically to the Internet since it wasinvented 40 years ago," said PeterDengate Thrush, chairman of theICANN board, calling it a "fantas-tically complicated technical fea-ture." He said he expects theboard to grant approval on Fri-day, the conference's final day.

The Internet's roots are tracedto experiments at a U.S. univer-sity in 1969 but it wasn't until theearly 1990s that its use beganexpanding beyond academia andresearch institutions to the pub-lic.

Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's newpresident and CEO, said that ifthe change is approved, ICANNwould begin accepting applica-tions for non-Latin domainnames and that the first entriesinto the system would likely comesometime in mid 2010.

By Ryan NakashimaThe Associated Press

Fans scrambled to see 3-D movies such as "Cloudywith a Chance of Meatballs" in theaters this year andnew 3-D televisions could soon have home viewersfeeling as if they're surrounded by a spaghetti hurri-cane on their couches.

Next year, major electronics manufacturers SonyCorp. and Panasonic Corp. plan to introduce 3-D-capa-

e high-definition televisions for the mass market.You'll still need to wear special glasses, though.

Movie studios hope 3-D can help lift the sagginghome video market the same way it has pushed up boxoffice results.

The initial price of such sets is expected to be high —perhaps 20 percent more than normal sets of the samesize. But costs should come down in the coming years.

Depending on prices, 3-D-ready TVs could be in 28million to 46 million homes worldwide by 2013, pre-dicts Alfred Poor, an analyst with GigaOM Pro. Heestimates that next year, as many as 2.5 million setsworldwide will be sold with 3-D capability.

-We're raising a whole generation of kids who expectto see this effect for their movies at home," Poor said. "Ithink people want 3-I). I just don't think they're goingto want to pay a whole lot more for it."

To avoid the need for special screens, some manufac-turers of TV sets are shunning the 3-I) technologycommon in theaters in favor of what's known as "activeshutter." That uses an infrared emitter on the TV to tell

battery-powered glasses when to flicker the left andright lenses in conjunction with the images on thescreen, which gives the perception of three dimensions.

The sets themselves will require relatively minorupgrades from today's models, but the glasses will costmore, raising the price of the overall package.

There's no question 3-D movies are popular.They generated more than $1 billion at box offices

worldwide this year, and on a per-screen basis, 3-Dshowings typically bring in more than double therevenue of regular screenings when a movie is offeredin both versions.

As more living rooms are equipped for movies in 3-D,studios will have stronger incentives to release themfor home viewing especially as 3-D movies are expectedto spend less time in theaters.

With about 30 3-1) movies headed for theaters nextyear and only enough screens to show one majorpicture at a time, the average theatrical run will shrinkto less than two weeks in 2010, down from nearly nineweeks in 2008, according to Charlotte Jones, a senioranalyst with Screen Digest.

That could put more emphasis on recouping film-making costs on the home market, she said. But thehome market is also coming under pressure.

U.S. home video revenues in the first half of 2009 fell3.9 percent from a year ago to $9.4 billion, despiteincreases in rentals, Blu-ray disc purchases and ordersfor movies on demand over set-top boxes, according toan industry association, The Digital EntertainmentGroup.

Internationalinfluence onthe InternetTECHNOLOGY: Domainnames with non-Latinaddresses expected tobe approved this week.

The Assocated Press

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is one of the 3-D features that soon may be seen at home as TVmanufacturers soon start producing 3-D televisions for the home market.

3-D playing soon at homeTechnological advances make it practical

A6 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009DAILYNEWS.COM

BUSINESS Send your story ideas to dnbiz(tvdailynews.comDOW 9,867.96 •-104.22 I NASDAQ 2,141.85 V-12.62 I S&P 500 1,066.95 V -12.65 I RUSSELL 2000 593.68Y-7.18

Home sales continue their climbVALLEY: Prices begin tostabilize as lower-pricedproperties lead market.

By Gregory J. WilcoxStaff Writer

Home sales in the San FernandoValley increased for the 15th consecu-tive month in September, further evi-dence that the real-estate crisis ismay nearing an end, a trade associa-tion said Monday.

Sales of previously owned housestotaled 684 last month, up from 658a year earlier and from 670 sales inAugust, said the Van Nuys-basedSouthland Regional Association ofRealtors.

The median house price declinedto $380,000 from $392,500 a yearago. That 3.2 percent drop is thesmallest since October 2007 whenprices began collapsing.

The steepest drop in the last 24months came in June 2008 when themedian plunged 34 percent to$431,000 from the record $655,000set a year earlier.

It's the third consecutive monththat the median has been in the$380,000 range.

The sales activity is now concen-trated at the lower-priced end of themarket but activity is picking upslightly at the higher end.

In my showings, every single prop-erty is still getting multiple offers,"said association president Ana MariaColon.

Signs of price stabilization arebuilding, too, she said.

Inventory is tight at 3.4 months,demand remains strong and manyproperties are now selling above listprice, she said.

"It has been slowly coming butright now is seems to be buildingeach month," she said.

Realtors also credit the $8,000 fed-eral tax credit, set to expire on Nov.30, with helping to drive sales.

The association's report alsoshowed that condominium salesincreased to 253 properties from 211a year ago. The median condo pricefell to $250,000 from $260,000 inSeptember, 2008.

In the Santa Clarita Valley, homesales fell to 178 properties from 195 ayear earlier; and the median price to8410,000 from $433,000 a year ear-lier. Condo sales fell to 65 propertiesfrom 89 a year earlier. The mediancondo price fell to $215,000 from$250,000 in Set. 2008.

The statewide and Los AngelesCounty markets also behaved in simi-lar fashion in September, said thestate Realtors association.

her and 2 percent from August. Themedian price fell to $351,680 from$374,920 a year earlier. The Augustmedian was $339,980.

Statewide home sales increased2 percent to 530,520 on an annual-ized basis. That means the Septem-ber number is what would be the fullyear total if the market matched lastmonth's pace all year.

The median price statewide fell to$270,170 from $319,310 a year earlier.The August median was $292,960.

Statewide, the median hasincreased on a monthly basis forseven consecutive months.

"It's showing us some directionand makes up believe we are skip-ping along the bottom of this mar-ket," Steve Goddard, the state associa-tion's president elect, said of thestring of monthly price increases.

W

elcome, Halloween'fans. It seems that'more and more adults

are celebrating this holiday; andretailers are displaying hun-dreds of Halloween products —from greeting cards andscreen-savers to costumes andsafety supplies.

Those planning to dress upfor trick-or-treating can choosefrom Transformers, Wolverines,President Obama, Harry Potter,Captain Jack Sparrow, EskimoCutie, Sexy Vampiress andmore.

When I do an online searchfor Halloween costumes, thereare six times more referencesfor adults than for kids. Andthe search term "sexy Hallow-een costume" has surged overthe past several years.

Celebrated all over the U.S., itisn't patriotic or historical, noris it associated with a specificreligion.

Instead, the holiday weavesspirituality, life and death,beliefs and candy into ourpresent and past imaginations.

Some elements concerningHalloween have a distinctivelyAmerican Indian heritage.Unknown to Europeans beforeColumbus, the pumpkin is onemajor symbol, along withsquash, beans and maize. Cornappears in the form of candycorn sod the corn shocks deco-rate porches and tables. I didn'tknow that the original Euro-pean jack-o-lantern was a tur-nip.

Halloween activities arerelated to early American har-vest festivals, with apple bob-bing, hayrides, and many gamesto find a date. The custom oftrick-or-treating was introducedto lessen the number of prankseven in the most conservativerural communities.

The words "Trick or Treat"didn't appear in the files ofMerriam-Webster until the early1940s. Trick-or-treating didcoincide with population shiftsfrom rural to urban and subur-ban developments. Going doorto door is just easier in the city.

In 731 AD., Nov. 1 wasdeclared All Saints' Day (AllHallows Day). Oct. 31 thenbecame All Hallows Eve, in timeshortened to "Halloween." Hal-loween is a multicultural event,celebration and holiday which Ipredict will be a happier timefor retailers this year than lastyear.

Larry Steven Londre is a marketingconsultant who teaches marketing,advertising, and media classes at CalState University, Northridge.

In Los Angeles County, sales greg.wilcox ddailynews.comincreased 6 percent from a year ear- 818 -713 -3743

LARRYSTEVENLONDRECSUNDIALOGUE

The longand shorthistory of,Halloweo