Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. It is used for building fast and scalable network applications like web servers. It provides event-driven, non-blocking I/O which makes it very fast. Some common uses of Node.js include writing highly concurrent server apps, building real-time apps that share data between server and client, and peer-to-peer web programming with websockets. Popular Node.js frameworks include Express, TowerJS, and tools include NPM, Jade, and Socket.IO. The presentation demonstrates Node.js's non-blocking callback model and how to install and use Node.js for simple HTTP and echo servers.