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Update answer to reflect some changes since the question was asked and answer written. FT1 can be used with AIS lenses etc not just AF-S.

The Nikon 1 series (including V1 onwards) are not DSLRs. They do not have a reflex mirror.
The 1 series has a smaller sensor with 2.7X crop compared to full-frame.
The previous two points make it much smaller than a DSLR, particularly when including lenses.
It does not have an optical viewfinder, instead it uses an EVF with 1.4 megapixels. This gives it a larger and brighter view than most cropped-sensor DSLRs (D3100, D5100, etc) but smaller than a full-frame (D3X, D3S). Like professional models, it gives 100% coverage.
The V1 uses both an electronic shutter and a mechanical one. Since it has no mirror to move either, it can shoot continuously without any moving parts. As you noted it can do so at up to 60 FPS but also does 30 FPS and 10 FPS with continuous AF.
The electronic shutter allows a maximum shutter-speed of 1/16000s, twice as fast as the best DSLRs on the market. It is also completely silent.
It uses a different lens mount called Nikon 1 mount with 4 lenses available at launch and 13 available by the end of 2014. To use Nikkor F-mount lenses an FT1 adapter was introduced in 2011.
It can use fast phase-detect autofocus while recording video. No DSLR can do that which is one reason AF for video is quite disturbing (contrast-detect forces the lens to move back and forth to determine focus).

answered Oct 29, 2011 at 3:27