The decline in home prices accelerated and spread to more regions of the country in October, according to a series of private indexes released Wednesday.

Prices fell 6.1 percent from October 2006 in 20 large metropolitan areas, according to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller indexes, compared with a 4.9 percent decline in September. All but three of the 20 regions saw real estate values fall, and even the three places — Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C. — where prices were up from a year ago saw prices fall from a month earlier.

The quickening decline in home prices could hurt the broader economy by leading to more foreclosures as homeowners have more difficulty refinancing mortgages and by sapping consumer spending as Americans feel less wealthy. But economists also noted that a faster descent from boom-era prices would allow the housing market to right itself sooner by removing vacant homes from the market.

Stocks fell modestly Wednesday in response to the latest home price data and on weaker than expected retail sales. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 0.4 percent, or 5.32 points, to 1,491.12; the Dow Jones industrial average was down 36.09 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,513.24.

“The one disconcerting thing about the number is the rate that prices are falling is accelerating,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at Global Insight, a research firm outside Boston.

The housing market will probably exert significant influence on the health of the broader economy in the coming year. In recent months, growth has slowed but strong exports and rising wages have offset some of the weakness in housing and the financial markets. Consumer spending in the holiday season has been weaker than some retailers had hoped, though reports indicate it is still growing.

“It has been surprisingly resilient,” Robert J. Shiller, the Yale economist and a creator of the home price indexes, said about the economy. He added that it was difficult to determine what impact the weakness in housing would have on the economy going forward. “We are in uncharted territory,” he said. “This was the biggest housing boom we have ever seen.”

By Mr. Shiller’s calculation, the decline in home prices is greater than at any time since 1941 when the housing market was faltering at the start of World War II. Since their peak in July 2006, home prices in the 20 regions have dropped 6.6 percent. Many economists are predicting that home prices will fall 10 percent to 15 percent from their peak to their trough, though some pessimists believe the drop could be as large as 30 percent.

Prices are dropping fastest in the Midwest, which has been hit hard by job losses in manufacturing, and in California, Florida and the Southwest, where the housing boom was at its frothiest. Prices have fallen the most in Miami (12.4 percent from a year ago), Tampa (11.8 percent) and Detroit (11.2 percent). Prices are also falling in the nation’s two largest metropolitan areas — Los Angeles (8.8 percent) and New York (4.1 percent).

In Charlotte, Seattle and Portland, where the local economies are relatively healthier, prices were up from a year ago but lower than in September. “It suggests to me that the psychological factor is very important,” Mr. Shiller said. “Even in cities that are doing well people see what is going on nationwide and they don’t want to bid as much.”

The Case-Shiller indexes, which Mr. Shiller created with Karl E. Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College, track same-home sales over time in an effort to remove the influence of the changing composition of homes sold from month to month. The government has a similar index based on mortgages bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that covers more of the country but does not track sales where home loans are greater than $417,000.

Credit crunch? Recession risk? You’d never know it, judging by the frenzy of startup activity. In fact, it’s a pretty good time to start a company. Generous payouts from Web 1.0 IPOs and more-recent acquisitions have given rise to a new generation of angel investors and venture capitalists. Plus, getting acquired by Google is an attractive and plausible exit strategy for many entrepreneurs. Those factors have combined to make a startup market almost as frothy as the dot-com bubble.

We say almost, because the spending is a bit less lavish than before, and because — unlike 1999 — many of the new crop of startups have real promise. Here are 10 pre-IPO, pre-acquisition companies worth watching in 2008.

23andMe

There’s a lot you could buy with $1,000, but for that price 23andMe offers something never before sold to the masses: your DNA. Are you predisposed to prostate cancer? Glaucoma? Heart disease? 23andMe, profiled recently in Wired, can tell you. The implications could rock the medical world — and the ethical one. As the science of genomics continues to improve, 23andMe should be able to provide ever-better information. In 2008, it will also provide social networking between customers who share traits ranging from ethnic origins to disease profiles.

• Founders: Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki
• Funding: $12 million, from Genentech, Google and New Enterprise Associates
• Employees: 30

37Signals

There’s a reason nobody ever uses the phrase, “It’s as simple as computer programming.” But Chicago’s 37Signals has made life simpler for programmers and small businesses alike with products such as Basecamp (project management software) and an increasingly popular open source web framework called Ruby on Rails. The company ditches the philosophy of “more features, more better” in favor of simplicity and accessibility: Focus only on the most important features and make things easier to use. The company itself embodies its keep-it-simple philosophy: Fewer than 10 staffers, working from humble offices, create programs quickly and nimbly adapt them based on user feedback. 37Signals released version 2.0 of Ruby on Rails in December, which should give many programmers a happy new year.

• Founders: Jason Fried, Ernest Kim, Carlos Segura
• Funding: Undisclosed sum from Bezos Expeditions
• Employees: 8

AdMob

When AdMob launched in 2005, its prospects did not look bright. As a startup mobile-advertising network, it would have to compete with Google, and how feasible is that? But AdMob has defied the odds. While Google is just four months into testing a mobile version of its advertising network, AdMob has already served 12 billion ad impressions to mobile users. As more consumers buy web-enabled mobile phones, the prospects for mobile advertising can only improve.

• Founder: Omar Hamoui
• Funding: Undisclosed Series A from Sequoia Capital; $15 million Series B from Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital
• Employees: 65

BitTorrent

As a peer-to-peer, or P2P, download protocol, BitTorrent was perfect for illegal file sharing. But in late 2007, the parent company of that protocol — also called BitTorrent — unveiled a potentially disruptive new use for its P2P technology: a platform that software providers and media companies can use to help customers download high-resolution files faster (and legally). By reducing distribution hurdles, BitTorrent will make online video and software sales increasingly viable in 2008 and will challenge the notion that the idiot box is the primary way to get your CSI fix.

• Founders: Bram Cohen and Ashwin Navin
• Funding: $28.75 million from Accel Partners and DCM (formerly Doll Capital Management)
• Employees: 60

Dash

Today, GPS is a one-way street, with a satellite beaming instructions to your device. You turn left because a chip inside your GPS device calculated that would the best route. In 2008, Dash will chart a new course with Dash Express, a GPS that learns from its users. If a Dash owner is moving 5 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone, Dash servers will realize he’s in traffic and warn other Dash drivers to choose faster routes. Sure beats calling 5-1-1.

• Founders: Brian Smartt, Mike Tzamaloukas, Steve Wollenberg
• Funding: $45 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, Skymoon Ventures, Crescendo Ventures, ZenShin Capital Partners, Artis Capital, Gold Hill Capital, and several individuals
• Employees: 85

Fon

You pay for internet access at home, so why must you pay for it again at the coffee shop, the airport and the hotel? That frustration spawned Spanish Wi-Fi startup Fon. It’s a simple idea: Give and you shall receive. “Foneros” first agree to share their home wireless connections with other Fon customers using a special router, which splits the signal into public and private streams. In exchange, they get the privilege of using any of the network’s wireless signals anywhere in the world for free. Fon has inked important deals with TimeWarner Cable in the United States, BT in Britain and Neuf in France, and its network has expanded to an impressive 600,000 registered users worldwide. Free global internet for the price you already pay at home? Sign us up!

• Founder: Martin Varsavsky
• Funding: Approx. $35 million from Skype, Google, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Excite, Digital Garage and BT
• Employees: Approximately 90 worldwide

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, a career-oriented social networking site, found 16 million users, yet until recently has been eclipsed by much larger, livelier competitors. Now, a much-needed upgrade has the 4-year-old startup looking pretty good after all. A new developer platform aims to bring LinkedIn networks to the web at large, starting with Business Week’s website, which will show your connections to any companies mentioned in news articles you’re reading. LinkedIn still emphasizes utility over frivolity, and that’s just the way we like it. Instead of virtual hugs and stripper name generators, expect the site to add “modules” that gather news and events from your industry. The dull-but-useful strategy seems to be working: LinkedIn projects revenues of nearly $100 million in 2008 — not too shabby compared to much larger Facebook’s estimated $150 million for 2007.

• Founders: Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, Jean-Luc Valliant
• Funding: $27.5 million from Sequoia Capital, Greylock, the European Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, and numerous individual angel investors
• Employees: 200

Powerset

It’s gotten hard to imagine a world where Google doesn’t dominate internet search, but some believe that if anyone can dethrone the king, it’s Powerset. The San Francisco company is developing an alternative “natural language” search technology, which takes into account the actual meaning and context of words in a sentence. Of course, it’s not the first time someone has tried to make computers think more like human beings, and HAL 9000 is still MIA. And despite an impressive demo at the TechCrunch 40 conference in September, Powerset’s management has struggled recently, losing one founder (Steve Newcomb) while another (Barney Pell) stepped down from the CEO position. Even if Powerset’s search engine doesn’t make it to market in 2008, Silicon Valley will be closely watching to company for any signs of progress — or lack thereof.

• Founders: Steve Newcomb, Barney Pell and Lorenzo Thione
• Funding: $12.5 million from Foundation Capital, The Founder’s Fund and several angel investors
• Employees: 60

Slide

In the battle of Facebook vs. the OpenSocial gang, there’s one assured winner, and it’s not even technically in the fight. Slide, the largest provider of third-party applications (aka “widgets”) to websites and social networks, stands to win no matter which network comes out on top. (Slide’s chief widget-making rival, RockYou, is also well in the mix.) Slide’s success is only pegged to the social networking trend, which shows no signs of flagging in 2008.

• Founder: Max Levchin
• Funding: Initial funding from Max Levchin; a rumored $20 million from BlueRun Ventures, The Founder’s Fund, Khosla Ventures, Mayfield Fund
• Employees: 60

Spock

Google can search the web by keyword, but Spock gets more directly at a single question: What does the web know about you? By crawling the web for personal information and combining that with social network data, Spock creates a hub for information about actual people. Enter your name in Spock’s pared-down interface and find out what the internet knows about you, or search by a keyword to find, say, ornithologists or sommeliers. Spock generates its profiles automatically, but individuals can “claim” theirs and correct any misinformation. In fact, you might want to check yours right now….

• Founders: Jaideep Singh and Jay Bhatti
• Funding: $8 million from Clearstone Venture Partners and Opus Capital
• Employees: 25

CompUSA, the computer and gadget retailer controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, has been sold to a restructuring and investment firm that will close stores and sell some company assets. The new owner is Boston-based Gordon Brothers Group, which recently helped CompUSA sell under-performing stores.

The terms of the deal were not not disclosed.

Dallas-based CompUSA said on Friday that active discussions are underway to sell its technical services business, CompUSA TechPro, its online sales operation, CompUSA.com, and select stores in key markets.

The chain’s 103 retail stores will remain open and staffed during the holiday season, offering discounts on computer and electronics ahead of the planned store closures.

“An orderly and expedited wind-down and asset sale process is the best option for CompUSA and its creditors at this juncture,” said Bill Weinstein, a Gordon Brothers principal who will be running CompUSA as its interim president.

“We worked long and hard with Gordon Brothers Group to achieve a business solution that maximizes CompUSA’s assets,” said Roman Ross, CompUSA’s current chief executive, who will continue to serve the company in an advisory capacity.

Nintendo continues to have a hit with the Wii gaming console.

Consumers bought 519,000 Wii systems in October, according to monthly figures released by The NPD Group, helping Nintendo to regain the top-selling spot among next generation consoles. That brings total U.S. sales of the Wii to 5 million.

“Demand actually continues to increase,” says Nintendo’s Perrin Kaplan. “People just can’t seem to get enough of it.”

Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which usurped the top sales spot in September fueled by the release of Halo 3, sold 366,000 — a drop from the previous month’s tally of 527,800, but still higher than the spring and summer months.

In mid-October, Microsoft released an Xbox 360 Arcade model ($280) aimed at casual gamers and families which helped buoy sales, says Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg.

Halo 3 remained the top-selling video game in October with 433,800 copies sold, bringing the total to 3.7

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with enclosed guitar, $90-$100) took the next three spots, with the Xbox 360 version selling the most (383,200), followed by the Wii version (286,300) and Sony PlayStation 2 version (271,100). “For us to see that title selling the best on our platform speaks to the fact that we are really broadening our market to that mainstream consumer,” Greenberg says.

A game-only PS2 version of GH III ($50) finished at No. 8, selling 231,700. In total, GH III sold 1.4 million copies (including a version for the PS3, as well as other versions that come with soundtrack CDs).

“Guitar Hero has certainly established itself among the elite video games properties,” said NPD’s Anita Frazier. “Very few games sell in excess of 1 million units in their first month in market, but Guitar Hero III did easily with combined sales of 1.4 million units in only six days. Since it has broad appeal, it’s also the type of game that should continue to do very well throughout the holidays.”

Sales of various guitar controllers also increased monthly accessory sales, she said.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 sales increased slightly in October to 121,000, increasing the system’s installed based to nearly 2 million. On Wednesday, Sony chairman and chief executive Howard Stringer said that an Oct. 29 price reduction of $100 of the 80 gigabyte PS3 (to $499) and a new $399 40GB model had boosted sales.

However, the PS3 price cut’s effect won’t be seen in the monthly sales figures until next month, Frazier says, “so we’ll have to wait until our data comes out next month to see the effect of that cut on retail sell-through of the hardware.”

Are you a struggling independent musician who’s just trying to get the word out about your sounds. You might want to try a site like SessionSound that lets you publicize your music on across a profile based web 2.0 platform. At SessionSound, you sign up and create your personal profile with regards to your material. You can take advantage of the site’s blogging tools, photo gallery, and gig section to further expand your repertoire among the SessionSound community while at the same time making your profile more extensive and accessible to other members. Most importantly, though, you can upload your music and have SessionSound manufacture and ship your demo CDs to interested listeners at a retail price that you specify beforehand, independently of SessionSound. Listeners can also purchase individual streaming audio material from the site if they don’t want to splurge for an entire CD. SessionSound receives a cut of the profit equivalent to US $5, and you, the musician, get to keep the rest.

“We’ve got a simple mission–make the independent in independent music mean something. Technology has always disrupted the status quo. It has created new industries and changed existing ones.And music is one industry which is ripe for changing. Technology has offered musicians an opportunity to connect directly to their fans and a whole spectrum of new audiences”