The main breakthrough is the reliability... vaguely hinted at deep in the article. As everyone with a physics background is clamoring to point out, this is not an instantaneous transmission of information. Mandatory analogy: Imagine if you had two "entangled" Schrodinger Cat boxes (no, not litter boxes, think more of a closed safe). Using quantum mechanics, you've found a clever way to dictate whether or not you have a cat in your box, and you've entangled the two in such a way that whatever's in your box is guaranteed to be in the other, which you give to your friend, who takes it to China. Then, you produce a cat in your box. The moment you do that, you've also produced a cat in his, before he even opens it. The researchers here have designed a clever experimental setup that allows them to "open the boxes" and observe the contents within the time interval that it would take for a photon to travel between you and China (less than ~1/10 of a second). Except they don't have a friend in China, their only friends work in the same lab about 3 meters away, which equates to a photon travel time of less than 10 nanoseconds. P.S. Technically, there is a third "box" mediating between you and your friend's, but I didn't include it... for the sake of simplicity. P.P.S. Dutch pride, veen? ;)
It was hinted at in the news that this could be the beginning of a new technology to be used by computers / the internet. Sounds really cool, that without a wire or a signal you can send something from one place to another almost instantaneously. maaaybeP.P.S. Dutch pride, veen? ;)