Maybe the translation is off on this one, but Hitachi's contender for the growing fitness monitor device market is called "Life Microscope." It's a watch-like device the user wears around the wrist. Like most of the other offerings on the market it makes use of accelerometers to detect the user's activity levels. Hitachi unveiled the new device at an exhibit in Tokyo this week, according to a report in Akihabara News.

Medgadget wonders if the wristworn device will be as accurate as others on the market since it's attached to a limb: It "raises the question whether arm movements can fool the device into thinking that the whole body is moving."

Fitbit, a wireless-enabled, fitness and calorie tracking device became commercially available last September. The device, which is small enough to clip on to the user’s clothing, uses an internal motion detector to track the wearer’s movement, sleep and calorie burn during both the day and night. The device costs $99.

According to a review by the New York Times' David Pogue, Philips’ DirectLife device is not as “cool-looking” as Fitbit: “The DirectLife, from Philips... doesn’t have the wireless transfer, either; instead, every so often, you snap it magnetically into its USB docking cradle/charger connected to your Mac or PC. And it’s not as cool-looking; the DirectLife is a white, flat, one-inch square plastic doodad that you can wear on a neck cord under your clothes, carry in your pocket or slip into a belt pouch.”

For more on Hitachi's Life Microscope, read this article from Engadget or this one from Medgadget