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I missed this...
It's not really "new," or an "innovation" IMO. It's just a stationary version of the way all Nikon's behave when in a dynamic AF mode (I think it's "all" but I can't really recall how my first Nikon DSLR's (D200/D300) behaved. But I know it's how all of the recent Nikon's behave). It's essentially just a d5pt mode.
You can test this yourself. Put the camera in a dynamic AF mode (w/ the focus enabled on the shutter w/ newer bodies) and set so that it won't fire until focus is achieved. Then attempt to focus on a blank section of wall where the camera cannot achieve focus. Now move the selected focus point towards something with detail it can focus on, like a window frame. The camera will focus/fire when one of the four surrounding points reaches the window frame.
If you do the same thing with a single point selected (i.e. non-dynamic AF mode) the camera will not focus/fire until the selected AF point reaches the window frame.
Ok that's a given, The old system had a single focus point that you could move manually. The new Group Area AF system has build on this to include 4 additional focus points around the 5th in the centre for accuracy. In addition it also offers face detection. This goes beyond the single AF mode and can also be used in the Continuous AF Mode.