Another +1 Minneapolis. Just moved last year, cost of housing is so much less and it's a great city with a lot to do year round. A small but successful and growing startup scene. It's the 16 largest metro area in the US so there are a lot of local tech jobs. If you can score a remote job earning SF/SV salaries and live in Minneapolis, even the better...
I can understand your sentiment. I designed the product and can tell you that the casing isn't bulky, it's 1.5mm thick all around which is less than some iPhone cases. I also made it super quick and easy to open the door to get to your iPhone's touch screen and the iPhone app we are working on will allow you a lot of flexibility in what the buttons trigger. The buttons allow for fast forwarding, skipping and album/artist skipping, basically how long you hold down the button takes you up levels in the music directory and of course it works with other apps such as Pandora as well. I can also tell you that people that were at first skeptical tried it out and commented that the UI for most music/podcast listening was a bit superior in that everything was just a thumb press away. Granted, this product isn't for everyone, but I don't think it should be so quickly dismissed as we've spent a lot of time on the UI, electronics and firmware and app to make a great experience. Don't be fooled by the retro-styling aspect as that was simply a design decision. Also, do you know of any other accessories that combine a battery to charge your iPhone with portable speakers in such a small package?
Hi, I'm the project creator of the Audman and I personally took all the shots and video. I had an Audman prototype with me and saw a crazy tap dancing guy on Market St. and just went up to him and asked if he'd dance around with it and he did. I also came across the GetAround guys with a Tesla Roadster and asked if I could have my friend sit in it and get some photos and they were cool. So long story short. The best way to spruce up your screenshots is to just get out there with a camera and and try out interesting things and ask people if you can take their photos. After that, use Photoshop or any other photo editing package to color balance crop and apply any effects to make the image pop and I'm sure you'll get some really great imagery.
-Dean