There's a lot of hype around Swype (sorry, couldn't resist). Swype is a text input methodology that is apparently easier than conventional typing; I haven't used it so I can't comment from personal experience.

TechCrunch (among others) profiled the system in a type-off with the iPhone. Here's the video showing the two side by side. Of course the video is cheated, but Swype looks very interesting.

The Samsung Omnia II (WinMo, Verizon) will apparently be the first handset in the US to get this new system. 

No single way to access content or get text into a handset will likely become standard. But I can tell you what's a lot faster than Swyping: speaking. As voice input gets better and better it will become the preferred way to search, send SMS messages and control the handset overall. 

Voice won't work in noisy situations and there's still inaccuracy but voice is more desirable than typing or Swyping, when available.