I didn't want this to get buried in the dark reaches of the Forum.
There is a good thread in the forum where David Gaider, goes in to a fair bit of detail of how we'll interact with Hawke's Companions throughout Dragon Age 2. It seems each party member will have their own "home base" in Kirkwall which you can go to visit to have conversations and the like. They may also come and visit you plus its seems there will still be environmental banter as well. Companions will also initiate dialogue with you, so we no longer have to click on Wynne for her to lecture us on relationships.
So all and all seems like very positive changes