If your Zune is dead, you're not alone.

The Associated Press reports that thousands of Microsoft’s Zune media players — the software company’s answer to Apple Inc.’s iPod — showed users an error message Wednesday. The problems appeared when people tried to start up their devices.

Frustrated users lit up Microsoft’s online support forum for Zunes with more than 2,500 messages by Wednesday afternoon, AP said.

The company, based in Redmond, said the outage affected only the 30-gigabyte models and was caused by a problem with their internal clock. Microsoft expected the problem to clear up as the clocks ticked over to Jan. 1.

But it'll be inconvenient. AP reports that users will have to jump through some hoops to get their Zunes back to normal, including letting the batteries die down completely before the devices will restart successfully.

COPA Airlines has ordered four more of Boeing's 737-800 jetliners, the airline announced today.

The Panamanian carrier expects delivery of those planes over the next three years.

The planes will seat 160 passengers, 144 in coach and 16 in first class.

COPA has a fleet of 42 planes including 17 737s. With the new order, COPA has 13 Boeing aircraft on order.

Aviation analyst Scott Hamilton reports that Boeing is considering a major upgrade of its popular 737 before it develops a new single-aisle aircraft to replace the workhorse plane.

The upgraded 737, a fourth generation of an aircraft originally designed in the 1960s, would feature more fuel efficient engines, perhaps Pratt & Whitney's new geared turbo-fans or CFM's new generation engine.

If Boeing picks the geared engine, which is larger in diameter than the 737's present CFM engines, it could require substantial revisions to the design: new, taller landing gear to increase the clearance between the engine and the runway and perhaps a new wing and wing box.

Any such update, of course, would include an updated cockpit and passenger amenities.

Boeing and its rival, Airbus, have repeatedly delayed complete redesigns of their popular 737 and A320 aircraft saying the science of aircraft design hasn't advance enough yet to prompt the expenditure of billions of dollars to produce an aircraft only 10 percent or so more efficient than the planes being built now.

A fourth-generation 737 would mean postponing the new single-aisle design until at least 2020 and give Boeing's Renton plant at least that much more longevity.

The Renton plant produces that 737. Boeing has said it likely will consider the Renton plant and other sites around the country for assembly of a totally new single-aisle plane.

A sub-hunting version of Boeing's popular 737 airliner could see its production schedule slowed if the Defense Department has its way.

The department's proposed 2010 budget cuts $940 million from the program to build the P-8A subhunting aircraft in order to fund completion of a third DDG-1000 destroyer, Bloomberg News reports.

The DDG-1000 was partially funded by Congress last year.

The budget proposal, of course, is subject to amendment by Congress and the new administration.

The first prototype examples of the P-8A are being built on a special assembly line at Boeing's Renton plant.

Commercial 737s are produced on another assembly line there.