JDBC 4.0 introduced 20 new features and enhancements including easier driver management through automatic driver loading, more flexible result set handling through the new SQLXML data type, and enhanced support for large objects, data types, and exception handling. Key goals were better object management, more data type support, and increased flexibility and ease of use. The presentation provided code examples to illustrate the new features and highlighted improvements in areas like connection management, exception handling, and the DatabaseMetaData API.