Lithium ion batteries can be formed into a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so as to efficiently fill available space in the devices they power.
Li-ion batteries are lighter than other equivalent secondary batteries — often much lighter. The energy is stored in these batteries through the movement of lithium ions. Lithium is the third lightest element, giving a substantial saving in weight compared to batteries using much heavier metals. However, the bulk of the electrodes are effectively "housing" for the ions and add weight, and in addition "dead weight" from the electrolyte, current collectors, casing, electronics and conductivity additives reduce the charge per unit mass to little more than that of other rechargeable batteries. The forte of the Li-ion chemistry is the high open circuit voltage in comparison to aqueous batteries (such as lead acid, nickel metal hydride and nickel cadmium). [citation needed]
Li-ion batteries do not suffer from the memory effect. They also have a low self-discharge rate of approximately 5% per month, compared with over 30% per month in nickel metal hydride batteries and 20% per month in nickel cadmium batteries.[citation needed]
wikipedia.com
Maybe Verizon/Motorola left in some old NiCad text in my manual!!
Many tech manuals are written hastily and grudgingly it seems.