The upcoming release of Cassandra 2.0.6 introduces new features to CQL including batch conditional updates and static columns. Batch conditional updates allow grouping multiple conditional updates in a single batch, provided they apply to the same partition. Static columns are special columns shared by all rows of the same partition, offering possibilities for maintaining invariants and optimizations. Additionally, Cassandra 2.0.6 introduces a new syntax for more general "slicing" over multiple clustering columns within a single partition.