So I just stumbled upon an interview with Lindelof (BLECH) that is filled with interesting things:

If you were standing in space at a spot where a ship just zapped off from, is there something we can do, considering it is 6 months after the last movie, that can show us that there are new technologies at play?

There definitely are changes to the old school technology, but that make sense in a modern context. The first that comes to mind is the scene where Scotty and Keenser are at the bar and Kirk is in orbit around Kronos. Kirk picks up his communicator and basically calls him as if it were a cell phone. This, you know, wasn't exactly how it was done before, but, to be fair, when those original shows and films were made we didn't have our cell phones and the current ease of contact. That move makes sense to a modern audience.

LINDELOF: What happened in that case, actually, is Kirk is walking down the hallway and he says to Uhura “will you find Mr. Scott and patch him through to my communicator” and she says “right away, Captain.” So then you cut to the other scene. But when we were editing we realized that the way you want to introduce Scotty is to cut to San Francisco, find him in the bar, and then have Kirk call him. The audience has somewhat forgotten that he left the ship – by having Kirk announce “track him down” it takes away from the fun of the storytelling. So we lost that bit not fully aware that this was a significant change from canon. But that's the explanation for it.

Can you confirm that the creatures we see with Kirk during his off-hours on Earth are Caitians?

LINDELOF: You mean the women with the tails?

Yes, this is the species that Lt. M'Ress was, from The Animated Series.

LINDELOF: Yes, we can confirm this.

He's so full of bull.