By their very nature, people are lazy.

“What is the maximum result I can get by using the least amount of effort?”

Convenience is now king as access points to get the information and entertainment we last after are only a click away. It’s hard to convince people to work harder, not smarter, and why would you want to? Therefore focusing on the path of least resistance for an advertiser is more likely to get the desired response by a potential user.

With the first glimpse of Xbox One yesterday we are witnessing a new standard in the Smart TV world and Sony and LG had better take notice. It’s not the gaming capabilities of the new XBOX, but the social experience it delivers, now combined with live television, that sets the new standard in personalization of TV viewing.

In combination with a cable or satellite subscription, XBOX now allows users to flip from content on the Xbox to Live TV. Furthermore, the new Xbox allows content to be overlaid onto a live broadcast. This will be particularly of interest to sports fans and advertisers who want to reach the young male demographic.

Sports will always be the main live viewing vehicle and live viewing will be a more valuable asset than ever before thanks to the emergence of PVRs and streaming online content services (Netflix_. Think about your fantasy league being displayed or updated live on screen so you don’t have to redirect your attention from the game. The additional feature of being able to chat with people on your league live, or Skype with them, in real time, creates a powerful social experience and one Microsoft can exploit thanks to the scale and adoption of XBOX; the type of penetration that other companion experiences have struggled to secure. The icing on the cake is that you can do this all by using voice commands; “Show CTV” can display the station or “what’s on Global?” can reveal a guide to upcoming programs.

This should help advertisers get closer to the Holy Grail of addressability. With operators not wanting to let you in on the data inside the set-top boxes, we might get a better idea of who we are speaking to by following their behavior through Xbox One. With the ability to navigate schedules on your favorite stations in combination with swapping your TV to display live television content, this could be the solution we have been looking for.

Keeping it simple, keeping it smart and keeping our attention focused in one place, bring new and very engaging TV experiences on the horizon. This is one Xbox party you don’t want to be late to.