Apparently, there has been another sighting of the mythical Facebook phone. Well, at least a sighting of plans to build the mythical product. According to a report from Bloomberg, anonymous sources have confirmed that Facebook is currently working with HTC to build their own phone, which would of course consist of its own modified operating system centered around the Facebook experience.

The slated release date is sometime in mid-2013, says the report. It was actually supposed to be much earlier – by the end of this year. But apparently the timetable was adjusted due to other products inside HTC.

Rumors of a Facebook branded phone have been around for quite some time. And it seems like every time someone mentions the hypothetical product, Facebook shuts it down. For instance, back in 2010 when rumors began to circulate, Facebook told us that “Facebook is not building a phone. Our approach has always been to make phones and apps more social.”

The rumors popped up again in early 2011, surrounding the Mobile World Congress. Those rumors involved HTC as well, but months came and went without any branded device from Facebook.

We first heard of this round of HTC rumors back in April, when reports emerged that said a Facebook phone would be launching in Q3 2012, running a modified Android OS.

We then heard that Facebook was in the process of recruiting engineers (some from Apple) to work on the Facebook phone project.

A device that was fully integrated into the Facebook experience would definitely give the company more chances to generate revenue from advertisements. Advertisers would no doubt be more willing to spend their money on a system that is tailored to be all Facebook, all the time. The question remains, however, as it has every time anyone mentions a Facebook phone – would consumers eat it up?