According to a report in The Los Angeles Times, Facebook is rumored to be launching a new phone sometime next year.

The report doesn’t say too much about what the phone would look like, except that it is being manufactured by HTC and that it would likely be designed with “social experiences” in mind. Check it out: “The phone, which is expected to run on a modified version of Android, is being developed to aid Facebook in its effort to tackle mobile, which Mark Zuckerberg called Facebook’s biggest challenge earlier this month.”

With smartphones already allowing users to communicate through talk, text and email, and apps that already make it pretty easy to connect to others through location and social networks, it is hard to imagine what new Facebook would bring to the table. Perhaps a status update every time you make a call or send a text? But who would really want that anyway? What new features would make you ditch your smartphone for a Facebook phone?