Here's a snapshot of what's making cable waves today.

Engadget has posted an early, positive review of Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK)'s Web-fed Pace plc -made Spectrum DVR and "Xcalibur" service that's being tested in Augusta, Ga. The review shows some screenshots of a new user interface, the box's apps selection, and some pics of a redesigned remote that features a curious "microphone icon … suggesting voice control is a possibility as well." (See Comcast Tests Broadband-Fed Xcalibur Service, Comcast's Internet + TV Set-Top Surfaces and What's Inside Comcast's Parker Box?)

Hulu LLC 's US$8 monthly Hulu Plus service is finally available on the TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) Premiere DVR. (See Xbox 360 Jumps Through Hulu's Hoop.)

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) expects to report an annual loss of $3.2 billion as the company struggles with the effects of the Japan tsunami and its recent Playstation Network outage. (See Japan Quake Shakes Pace.)

Comcast's recruitment of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker is generating questions from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. It wants to know when Baker began talking to Comcast about a job, and when she began to disqualify herself from FCC proceedings. (See Attwell Baker Jumps From FCC to Comcast.)

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) is denying that it helped the Chinese government track members of the Falun Gong. (See China Censorship Debate Circles Cisco .)

Several top video-on-demand (VoD) tech vendors -- BlackArrow Inc. , Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and SeaChange International Inc. (Nasdaq: SEAC) -- are skipping the advanced advertising interop that CableLabs is hosting this week.

Ad agencies are counting online views for TV shows when they negotiate deals with advertisers. That's good news for Comedy Central's South Park, which ranks 211th in popularity in TV viewers, but fourth if online views are included, according to ad-buying firm Optimedia US.

— Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable, and Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable