Kubernetes 1.4 introduces several notable features, including the ability to install Kubernetes with the kubeadm command, similar to Docker Swarm's init and join commands, and enhancements such as federated replica sets, scheduled jobs for batch processing, and pod affinity policies. The release also offers a new Kubernetes Dashboard with improved user interface and functionality, achieving close parity with the command-line interface. The blog details a process to create a Kubernetes cluster on Amazon Web Services, deploy a Couchbase service, and run a Spring Boot application that interacts with Couchbase to store a JSON document. It highlights the steps to set up the cluster, deploy the services, monitor the status of pods, and eventually shut down the cluster, demonstrating Kubernetes' capabilities in managing containerized applications.