Mio Technology has luanched a series of new GPS gadgets at the Computex show in Taiwan this week. Among them are: the Moov V500 and V700 range of portable navigation devices (PNDs) — or sat navs, if you will — featuring built-in digital TV tuners, the Explora K75 and K70 GPS-enabled phones, and a series of GPS-enabled netbooks dubbed Lightpad.

In fact the Explora K75 smartphone won the show’s Best Choice Award of Computex 2009. It features a phat 3.5-inch screen, an ultra-slim form factor, along with Mio’s Spirit software and Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system.

As for the new PNDS, the Moov V500 and V700 makes “Mio the first major GPS company to launch a comprehensive line of digital TV PNDs,” or so says its press release. Um, all due respect to Mio and Mitac, but the company’s marketing execs might want to look in their own backyard — say South Korea — where DTV is a standard feature on PNDs. Maybe it is the first out of the big-name PND makers — TomTom, Magellan (now owned by Mio parent Mitac), and Garmin being the others — to bring the DTV; I’ll give ‘em that.

But the most intriguing thing is the series of netbooks — lightweight, tiny laptops. This is a new market segment for Mio, and it is showing off the first in its Lightpad series, the Litepad N890 and Litepad N1210, at Computex Taipei. The two models incorporate features such as quick boot, built-in 3.5G broadband, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The N890 also features an 8.9-inch display and a GPS receiver that uses the MioMap navigation software and location-based services.

Mio expects to begin shipping these gizmos in the fourth quarter of this year. No word of what markets will see these devices first, although given that Mio didn’t distribute the release over Western newswires — I first saw this on Aving, which has more pictures of the Lightpad N890 — I wouldn’t hold your breath if you’re a North American resident. Aving, incidentally is reporting that the N890 will be available in July; since its reporters are at the show, we’ll hope that info trumps the official press release.

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