Briefs: Apple store to open at Deer Park center

DEER PARK -- The Apple Store Deer Park grand opening begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Deer Park Town Center. The retail store chain for Apple Inc. products also features training and other services. Having first entered the Chicago area market in 2001, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple will then have seven area stores.

Etymotic unveils hearing system

ELK GROVE VILLAGE -- Etymotic Research has introduced the Companion Mics system to aid hearing impaired users during conversations in noisy environments. The Elk Grove Village-based firm said Companion Mics enables people who were excluded from conversations in noisy places to fully participate. The Companion Mics system establishes a direct line between the talkers' microphones and the listener's receiver, bypassing the noise of most large rooms.