You Can Almost Feel the Panic at Palm, Can’t You?

Looks like Apple will hold a special event in March, after all–but its focus won’t be on desktops. This morning the company distributed invitations for a March 17 gathering at its Cupertino Town Hall to discuss the iPhone OS 3.0 and an updated software development kit. The event, which comes a little more than a year after the company first showed off the iPhone SDK, will be hosted by iPhone software vice president Scott Forstall and iPhone product marketing chief Greg Joswiak. Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs, who is on medical leave from the company, is not expected to attend.

The announcement of an impending update to the iPhone OS will doubtless cause tremors of fear over at Palm (PALM), which now may end up launching its new Pre smartphone in the shadow of an even more formidable rival. Just breathe into the paper bag and count to ten, Ed …