There are a bunch of videos on
Nintendo's E3 Network site and while most of them are a bit boring, there are some interesting tidbits that you can extract.
Ryan Stradling's video inparticular gives us some information that we didn't have about the console such as notifications when your friends come online, real time updates, exchanging achievements and being able to talk to/communicate with friends via online.
So this thing will let you add friends, see what they're playing, AND chat with them. It looks like Nintendo is finally taking its first steps into a deeper online experience.