MiTAC is probably best known for making GPS devices. But the company’s also got a computer division which is focused on high end and specialized machines. Now it looks like the company is branching into consumer oriented computers. Wired reports that MiTAC will release a low cost ultraportable laptop by the end of the year.

The MiTAC netbook will have an 8.9 inch display, and a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU. A Bluetooth option will be available, and customers will be able to choose a model with a hard drive or a solid state disk. MiTAC will also offer a GPS option.

The netbook will run the gOS Linux distribution, which is based on Ubuntu. While gOS has been working hard to target netbook users, the only major netbook released so far with the operating system was the Everex Cloudbook which wasn’t received particularly well. At the time the operating system seemed like a poor fit for subnotebooks with tiny displays. Some system menus couldn’t even fit on the Cloudbook’s 7-inch screen.

But today netbooks like the upcoming MiTAC computer typically have larger, higher resolution displays. And gOS has been updated since the Cloudbook was released. Maybe the second time is the charm?