Aeons ago in the PC era, the annual Comdex show in Las Vegas was the place to see the latest technologies. But in the mobile era it failed to, er, move with the times—and Mobile World Congress, a smartphone-fest in Barcelona, took its place. At this year’s MWC, however, smartphones are being upstaged by another technology: virtual reality. At Samsung’s press event, its new S7 handsets were overshadowed by VR, with headsets given to all attending and a surprise appearance by Facebook boss (and VR fan) Mark Zuckerberg. HTC said its Vive VR headset would go on sale in April for $799; Samsung, LG and Nokia showed off VR cameras, Nokia boasting that its 5G base-stations can handle real-time VR streaming. Now that sales growth in smartphones has peaked, manufacturers are understandably looking elsewhere. And because VR will be a mobile technology, perhaps MWC, unlike Comdex, will remain the place to glimpse the future.