Up to now there hasn't been a true digital replacement for the tape measure, which just about everyone has in their toolbox. That’s set to change with the Bagel, which features a clever combination of several measurement modes. The Bagel campaign on Kickstarter is very popular and has already raised more than $700,000 for manufacturing of this handy modern tool.
 
Despite what you might think, the Bagel has nothing to do with food. It owes its name to the round shape of the device, strongly reminiscent of – you guessed it – a bagel. Compared to widely used laser distance meters, the Bagel has several additional functions. It has three measurement modes: String, for measuring distances with a pull-out string (such as the circumference of a pipe); Wheel, for measuring distances on curved surfaces with a tracking wheel (such as the backrest of a chair); and Remote, which works roughly the same way as a conventional digital distance meter. Unfortunately the last mode does not use a laser, but instead a generally less accurate ultrasonic transducer.
 
The Bagel also has a memory with room for 100 measurements and a memo recorder for adding voice comments to measurements, and it can send measurement data to a smartphone over a Bluetooth link. There is a lot of interest in the Bagel. If you’re fast, for $69 you can still reserve a Bagel from the production lot planned for November.