8:20 AM -- At The Cable Show this week, Light Reading picked up some interesting data on Cisco's upcoming media adapter.

First, there was this photo, published this morning, that shows the very same prototype navigation device Light Reading wasn't allowed to photograph in January, when it was first told about the media adapter.

Cisco doesn't make the interface device -- known as "The Ring" -- and it didn't build the software that Light Reading was shown in January. That technology and expertise came from Hillcrest Labs , a startup whose business model is to sell reference technology to consumer device makers and service providers.

So the Cisco media adapter isn't shaping up to be an Apple TV killer after all. It's looking more and more like an OEM job at its finest. Or an early hint that Cisco is going to buy Hillcrest so it can own some new, vital part of the consumer networking experience.

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— Tasman Jasmine, Cisco Watcher, Light Reading