Glad to hear that you like the device.
End user firmware updates are supported and should be relatively safe. There are some safety features built in so it should be relatively difficult to completely brick your device to a state where it can't be restored.
The initial screen can be replaced independent of the firmware.
Just create a 480x272 pixel bitmap and use the startup image programming tool below:
http://www.lcdinfo.com/usbd480/software ... _image.zipThis is a command line application that takes the image file as a parameter.